THE  LURE 
OF  THE  LAND 


• 


HARVEY  W  \VILEY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE 
LURE  OF  THE  LAND 


5.1 

M    a 


THE 
LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

FARMING  AFTER  FIFTY 


BY 

HARVEY  W.  WILEY,  M.D. 

Formerly  Chief  Chemist  of  U.  S.  Dep't  of  Agriculture 

Author  of  "Foods  and  their  Adulterations," 

"1001  Tests,"  "Principles  and  Practice 

of  Agricultural  Analysis,"  etc. 


Illustrated) 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1915 


Copyright,  1912,  1915,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 


Published,  January,  1915 


6 


52,1 
-   -     -I 


To  the  memory  of  my 
FATHER  AND  MOTHER 

pioneers  of  the  backwoods  of  South- 
ern Indiana,  who  taught  me  the  homely 
duties  of  cultivating  the  fields  they 
rescued  from  the  forest,  reverence  for 
truth  and  to  battle  for  the  right,  and 
illustrated  by  their  example  the  dignity 
of  labor  in  a  hard  environment, — 
I  dedicate  this  book. 


CONTENTS 


fUAPTEE  PAGE 

I     THE  LURE  OP  THE  LAND 3 

H  AGRICULTURE  A  LEARNED  PROFESSION  ....      11 

HI     THE  BOOMERS  AND  THE  BOOMEES 18 

IV     THE   BORN-ON-THE-FARM  MYTH 28 

V  THE  DAIRY  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  SMALL  FARMER     .      35 

VI  THE  FARMER'S  WIFE  VERSUS  THE  DAIRY  COW       .      41 

VII  THE  ORCHARD  A  RECREATION  AND  SOMETIMES  A 

SOURCE  OF  PROFIT 46 

VIII     HEALTH   ON   THE   FARM 53 

IX     FARM  LABOR 61 

X     PROHIBITION  FOR  THE  FARMER 69 

XI  IS  THE  SMALL  FARMER  TO  DISAPPEAR?  .      ...      78 

XII  THE     PLACE    OF    THE    FARMER    IN    THE     SOCIAL 

SCALE 86 

Xin     THE  FARMER'S  MARKET 92 

XIV  THE  FARMER  AND  THE   PARCEL  P.OST      ....    100 

XV     BUSINESS  METHODS  IN  FARMING 114 

XVI     FARM  FINANCE 119 

XVII     "BACK  TO  THE   FARM!" 145 

XVIII     POWER  ON  THE  FARM 160 

XIX     AGRICULTURAL  WASTES 167 

XX  THE    GENESIS    OF    THE    SOIL    AND    ITS    POSSIBIL- 
ITIES         173 

XXI     WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS f 208 

XXII     THE  FERTILITY  OF  THE  SOIL 226 

XXIII  DRY  FARMING 237 

XXIV  THE  FUNCTION  OF  WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE  .    244 


CONTENTS 


XXVII 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXV     THE   DECREASING  MEAT   SUPPLY 252 

XXVI     STATISTICS  RELATING  TO  ANIMALS  ON  FARMS       .   269 
THE  TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  THE  INDUS- 
TRIES AND  ARTS 274 

UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE 307 

UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  FARM 324 

A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO 340 

INDEX  .  .   359 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Lure  of  the  Land Frontispiece 

FACING 

PAGE 

Senator  Justin  S.  Morrill 9 

"  The  children  will  not  get  to  college  unless  I  should  find  a 

chance  to  sell " 16 

I  pulled  up  an  acre  of  peach  orchard  and  sowed  alfalfa       .      .  16 

Inconveniences  of  life 24 

The  hired  man  can  never  put  a  soul  into  a  field       .      ...  33 

Resting  in  the  shade  and  watching  other  people  work  ...  33 
The  cradle  has  revolutionized  the  wheat  industry    ...      .41 

Wlhat  would  you  think  of  the  farmer  to-day  who  would  buy 

a  cradle  for  his  wheat  cutting? 41 

Cut  clover  with  a  scythe  instead  of  a  mower 48 

Mule  harvester  and  thrasher 48 

Unless  cows  are  properly  stabled  and  have  pure  water  and 

pure  air  they  are  subject  to  disease 57 

The   silo   is   a   graceful   structure   and   adds   an    element   of 

architectural  beauty  to  the  dairy  buildings 64 

Judged  by  the  cow's  taste,  silage  is  almost  an  ideal  food    .      .  64 

I  have  seen  her  repeatedly  chopping  her  own  stove  wood  .      .  69 

She  does  the  milking  and  churning 69 

Churning  butter 84 

Stacking  the  oat  straw 84 

"  Orchard's  where  I'd  ruther  be " 88 

The  peach  tree  borer 88 

Ravages  of  the  San  Jos£  scale 97 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

Spraying  outfit  and  mixing  platform 97 

Thrashing  hands 101 

Just  at  that  time  farmers  were  offering  from  $1.50  to  $2.00 

for  help  in  the  corn  harvest 116 

I  have  all  I  can  eat  and  wear.    Why  should  I  want  more?       .  116 

Moving  the  thrashing  outfit 137 

Hauling  water  for  the  traction  engine 137 

A    giant    chestnut,    twenty-four    feet    in    circumference — the 

largest  tree  in  Loudoun  County 144 

The  forest 144 

Spraying  hops  on  a  large  scale 165 

Spraying  sugar  beets 180 

Distributing  poison  bait  for  cut  worms 180 

Larva  of  the  cotton  boll  weevil 201 

Adult  cotton  boll  weevil 201 

Probably  they  are  to  die  of  cholera 208 

He  thinks  of  the  cattle  feeding  in  the  fertile  fields  ....  208 

View  west  of  Chevy  Chase,  Maryland 213 

Prof.  E.  W.  Hilgard 228 

Early  experiments  in  reclaiming  soil 245 

Experiments   with  fertilizers  on  potatoes,  Kentucky   Experi- 
ment Station.    Potash  is  especially  useful  for  potatoes  .      .  260 

Hon  G.  B.  Loring 281 

Testing  the  size  of  the  oats 288 

The  old  farm-house 288 

Hon.  N.  J.  Coleman 309 

James   Wilson 324 

Jeremiah  Rusk 341 

A  desert  which  might  be  irrigated 356 


THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 


Rura  laudamus  meritb  poetae 
Rure  floremus;  dominoque  laurum 
Sole  gaudentem  necat  oppidorum 
Nubilus  aer. 

A.  COULEIITS. 


THE  LUKE  OF  THE  LAND 


THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

IT  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss  problems  of  life  in  the 
country  for  those  whose  incomes  permit  them  to 
follow  any  desire  or  whim  that  may  possess  them.  The 
lure  of  the  land  to  which  I  refer  is  not  that  of  the  spec- 
ulator ;  nor  of  the  miser,  who  would  increase  his  landed 
possessions  as  he  would  his  gold ;  nor  of  the  promoter, 
whose  desire  for  the  country  is  to  lay  it  off  in  lots  and 
sell  it  to  his  fellows ;  nor  of  the  exploiter,  who  loves  to 
possess  only  that  he  may  rob  and  degrade.  From  my 
point  of  view  I  would  set  forth  for  the  average  man  of 
average  means,  who  wishes  to  indulge  the  natural  de- 
sire for  country  life,  the  dangers  and  difficulties,  as 
well  as  the  advantages  and  successes,  of  making  his 
home  on  the  farm. 

It  is  evident  that  those  who  live  in  the  country  must 
earn  a  living,  but  in  doing  this  there  is  no  need  that 
all  of  the  beauties  of  rural  life  should  be  sacrificed  until 
it  becomes  a  burden  unbearable.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
understand  how  the  youth  brought  up  on  a  farm  turns 
his  longing  eyes  towards  the  town.  The  conditions 
of  farm  life,  as  a  rule,  are  not  such  as  to  attract 

or  to  hold  the  farmer's  son  or  daughter.     Life  does  not 

3 


4  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

consist  alone  in  watching  the  beautiful  sunrise,  in 
strolling  through  a  shady  forest,  or  wandering  by  a  bab- 
bling brook.  To  the  farmer's  boy  life  means  early 
rising,  hard  and  continuous  labor,  plain  and  often  poorly 
cooked  food,  hard  beds,  and  an  absence  of  all  the  oppor- 
tunities which  the  youth  so  strongly  desires.  It  is  just 
as  natural  for  the  farmer's  boy  to  look  towards  the  town 
as  it  is  for  the  town  boy  to  look  towards  the  country, 
but  these  conflicting  desires  arise  from  different  sources. 

To  the  farmer's  boy  the  town  appeals  as  a  means  of 
a  career.  The  country  appeals  to  the  city  boy  as  a 
place  of  rest  and  quiet  enjoyment.  When  you  turn 
your  face  towards  the  city  you  go  to  hard  struggle,  a 
hard  environment,  to  a  life  surrounded  by  temptations. 
When  you  face  the  country,  on  the  contrary,  you  look 
to  a  life  of  repose,  of  quiet,  not  devoid  of  labor,  but 
with  greater  certainty  of  success  and  less  ignominy 
of  failure.  The  one  is  an  instinct  to  return  to  the  nat- 
ural life,  the  other  is  a  desire  to  acquire  the  artificial 
life.  Each  of  them  is  logical,  and  each  of  these  de- 
sires must  be  reckoned  with  from  the  standpoint  of 
practical  philosophy. 

The  point  that  I  wish  to  make  is  this :  When  should 
the  city  man  yield  to  his  desire  to  go  to  the  country  ? 
I  would  not  in  any  way  seek  to  diminish  the  intensity 
of  this  desire,  but  I  think  it  wise  to  do  something  to 
help  control  it  and  to  set  forth  the  facts  of  the  case  in 
some  way  which  may  be  beneficial  to  the  man  who 
tires,  as  every  good  man  should  tire,  of  city  life.  The 
number  of  those  who  are  able  to  go  to  the  country  and 
found  large  estates,  build  fine  houses  and  drive  fine 
horses,  is  extremely  limited.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
number  of  men  in  very  moderate  circumstances  who 
would  love  to  yield  to  the  longing  for  out-of-door  life 


THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND  6 

is  immensely  large.  Before  indulging  this  desire,  how- 
ever, some  practical  points  are  worthy  of  consideration. 

In  the  first  place,  the  lure  of  the  land,  even  in  ma- 
ture persons,  is  apt  to  lose  its  pull  when  brought  up 
against  the  hard  conditions  of  country  life.  The  per- 
son who  thinks  of  going  to  the  country,  therefore, 
should  be  perfectly  certain  that  he  really  wants  to  go. 
It  may  be  he  is  longing  only  for  a  vacation,  and  in  this 
case  in  a  few  weeks  or  months,  or  at  most  years,  he  will 
tire  of  his  vacation  and  desire  to  return  to  the  old  con- 
ditions. It  is  most  unfortunate,  in  a  case  like  this,  that 
he  should  have  so  disposed  of  his  fortune  as  to  make  it 
practically  impossible  to  get  away  from  the  country 
with  which  he  once  was  so  enamored. 

There  is  a  large  number  of  city  men, —  and  it  is 
mostly  among  the  men  that  this  desire  obtains, —  who 
have  achieved  respectable  careers  as  teachers,  as  em- 
ployees in  business  houses,  as  physicians,  as  lawyers,  as 
ministers,  as  business  men,  whose  eyes  are  turning  to- 
wards the  country.  Should  they  yield  to  this  tempta- 
tion, or  should  they  stay  where  they  are  making  a  re- 
spectable living  and  deporting  themselves  as  respectable 
citizens  ?  The  answer  to  this  question,  of  course,  can- 
not be  a  general  one.  It  all  depends.  First  of  all,  the 
wife  and  daughters  should  be  consulted.  While  the 
husband  and  father  may  desire  to  go  to  the  country,  the 
wife  and  daughter  may  not.  The  venture  is  certain  to 
be  a  failure  unless  all  parties  are  agreed  upon  its  de- 
sirability. The  titular  head  of  the  house,  therefore, 
should  never  lose  his  heart  to  the  lure  of  the  land  until 
he  is  certain  that  the  wife  and  the  daughter,  and  the  son 
too,  for  that  matter,  are  of  the  same  mind.  A  mere  so- 
journ of  a  week,  or  a  month,  as  boarders  at  a  farmhouse 
is  by  no  means  sufficient  to  determine  this  point.  Many 


6  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

a  wreck  has  been  the  result  of  taking  the  family  to  the 
country,  and  afterwards  having  part  or  all  of  it  become 
thoroughly  dissatisfied.  There  are  so  many  rough  re- 
alities in  a  life  of  this  kind  that  it  takes  the  poetry  out 
of  the  visions  of  joy,  peace,  contentment  and  success, 
that  arise  in  the  minds  of  many. 

There  are  thousands  of  people  to-day,  however,  to 
whom  the  question  is  one  of  immense  importance.  The 
longer  a  man  thinks  about  it,  the  more  infatuated  he 
becomes  with  the  idea.  He  must,  therefore,  lay  aside 
prejudice  and  desire,  and  look  at  the  matter  in  the  full 
light  of  practicality.  The  landscape  is  apt  to  lose  its 
beauty  after  a  few  hours  in  the  harvest  field,  and  the 
forest  is  valued  only  for  its  shade  after  ten  hours'  plow- 
ing in  the  hot  sun.  The  problems  which  are  to  be  con- 
sidered are  many,  and  only  a  few  can  be  presented  in 
this  work.  As  one  who  knew  all  about  farm  life  as  a 
boy  and  has  had  a  pretty  large  experience  with  it  as  a 
man,  and  who  has  returned  to  it  in  the  late  afternoon  of 
his  life,  I  may  perhaps  be  able,  from  my  experience,  to 
say  a  few  things  that  will  be  helpful. 

My  object  is  not  to  keep  farmers'  sons  and  daughters 
at  home,  so  much  as  it  is  to  keep  fathers  and  mothers 
who  have  no  business  in  the  country  from  going  there. 
Better  by  far  to  stay  in  the  city,  where  the  environment 
is  known  and  where  the  niche  into  which  you  are  thrust 
is  more  or  less  adapted  to  hold  you,  than  to  come  to 
grief  through  a  mistaken  idea  of  what  is  necessary  to 
successful  farming. 

The  difficulty  of  the  problem  is  increased  by  reason 
of  the  artificial  life  of  the  present  time.  Every  day 
the  urban  population  seems  to  grow  larger  and  the  rural 
population  to  diminish.  It  is  a  rare  thing  for  an  in- 
telligent and  ambitious  farmer's  boy  to  become  a  farmer, 


THE  LURE  OF  THE. LAND  7 

or  for  a  well  educated  and  brilliant  girl  to  marry  a 
farmer,  not  because  such  things  should  not  be,  but  be- 
cause the  expectation  of  success  and  happiness  in  life 
is  not  at  the  present  time  in  any  particular  way  asso- 
ciated with  country  life.  Nor  am  I  foolish  enough  to 
suppose  that  the  cities  are  going  to  be  depopulated. 
Much  as  that  is  to  be  desired,  it  is  not  likely  to  hap- 
pen. On  the  other  hand,  we  must  calmly  look  forward 
to  an  increasing  density  of  the  urban  population  and 
a  smaller  percentage  left  in  the  country.  While  I  try 
to  look  at  the  matter  from  a  philosophical  point  of  view, 
I  realize  the  almost  hopeless  effort  of  trying  to  depopu- 
late the  city.  I  shall  have  something  particular  to  say 
upon  that  point  further  on.  My  purpose,  therefore, 
is  not  to  change  the  existing  order  of  things,  but  to  try 
to  make  the  best  of  it 

Much  is  to  be  expected  from  changes  in  the  studies 
of  our  country  schools.  The  ideas  of  country  life  im- 
parted to  the  school  children  in  the  city  should  be  no 
longer  colored  nor  painted.  The  truth  should  always  be 
told.  It  is  well  to  imbue  the  city  child  with  a  love  of  ru- 
ral life,  but  it  would  be  wrong  to  imbue  him  with  a  love 
of  this  kind  and  to  leave  him  in  ignorance  of  the  hard 
conditions  which  it  imposes.  I  have  had  many  appli- 
cations from  city  boys  to  spend  their  summers  with  me 
on  the  farm,  and  have  had  a  little  experience  of  that 
kind.  How  quickly  the  glamour  of  the  country  wears 
away  from  the  city  boy  when  he  goes  out  to  work  in  the 
fields!  The  hard  labor  of  the  hot  day  soon  removes 
the  last  vestige  of  enthusiasm,  and  it  takes  a  boy  of 
fine  spirit  and  splendid  mettle  to  stick  to  his  job. 

Again,  the  wickedness  on  the  part  of  promoters  in 
seeking  to  sell  to  city  people  suburban  properties  should 
be  pointed  out.  As  I  read  their  advertisements  I  can- 


8  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

not  help  thinking,  "  How  many  suckers  will  bite  at  this 
bait !  "  As  a  rule,  the  most  unhappy  man  you  meet 
is  the  so-called  suburbanite.  When  you  can  see  him 
through  the  bundles  he  carries  to  and  fro,  you  do  not 
always  detect  the  countenance  of  the  happy.  The  sub- 
urbanite's family  expects  to  live  as  people  live  in  the 
city.  There  must  be  servants  to  do  the  work,  prepare 
the  food  and  sweep  the  floors,  and  the  best  of  the  city 
market  must  be  brought.  No  wonder  the  man  who 
goes  back  and  forth  to  his  business  soon  finds  life  a 
burden ! 

While  I  agree  that  it  is  better  for  the  individual  to 
have  a  country  home,  accessible  by  trolley  or  otherwise, 
and  still  to  do  business  in  the  city,  his  lot  is  not  the 
one  which  I  am  to  portray.  The  man  I  have  in  view 
is  the  one  who  not  only  goes  to  the  country  but,  after  in- 
vesting his  little  hoard  of  a  lifetime,  expects  to  make 
his  living  for  the  rest  of  his  life  from  the  farm  on 
which  he  is  settled.  My  observation  is  that  it  is  rare 
for  a  man  who  has  devoted  his  more  active  life  to  other 
pursuits  in  the  city,  to  become  a  successful  farmer;  I 
mean  by  that  to  live  from  the  products  of  his  farm. 
Thus  at  the  very  outset  I  may  say  to  those  who  are  suf- 
fering from  the  disease  which  I  call  ruralitis,  that  the 
expected  living  which  is  to  come  from  a  farm  is  to  a 
large  extent  yisionary. 

At  the  same  time  I  would  be  sorry  to  see  this  love 
of  rural  life  less  regnant  than  it  is.  Theoretically,  my 
idea  of  humanity  would  be  a  scattered  population,  all 
of  the  productive  industries  taken  out  of  the  cities  and 
placed  in  the  country  to  which  they  properly  belong, 
and  the  city  left  only  as  a  place  of  exchange.  Mean- 
while, let  us  make  the  best  of  things  as  they  are.  The 
suburban  life  should  be  encouraged  because  it  has  some 


SENATOR    JUSTIN    S.    MORKILL 
Father   of   the  Land   Grant    Colleges 


THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND  9 

points  of  superiority.  At  least  in  the  suburbs  you  can 
have  a  house  with  the  light  and  air  of  heaven  all  around 
it,  and  if  it  is  beautiful,  as  sometimes  it  may  be,  its 
beauty  will  not  be  confined  to  the  front  door,  as  is  the 
case  in  the  city.  The  suburbanite  can  have  his  yard 
and  his  garden,  even,  though  he  may  have  to  hire  their 
care.  He  has  light  and  air,  he  has  opportunity  for  his 
children  to  place  their  feet  upon  the  ground,  and  he 
does  not  have  a  saloon  at  every  corner  of  his  yard.  He 
should  be  schooled  beforehand,  however,  to  bear  the 
burdens  becomingly  and  to  know  that  even  in  the  sub- 
urbs life  is  not  one  long  dream  of  happiness. 

But  most  of  all  I  would  speak  for  those  who  intend 
to  be  real  farmers,  to  live  upon  the  farm  and  gain  their 
livelihood  therefrom, —  and  by  farm  I  do  not  mean  sim- 
ply fields  of  wheat  and  corn,  but  I  mean  orchards  and 
dairies  and  gardens  and  forests,  in  fact  all  the  various 
activities  by  means  of  which  Mother  Earth  yields  her 
treasures  of  grain  and  fruit  and  flowers  to  her  tenants. 
Hard  as  the  life  is,  full  of  unexpected  difficulties,  ac- 
cidents and  discouragements,  one  should  not  be  always 
deterred  from  trying  it.  And  so  I  would  speak  the 
truth  about  farm  life  and  call  attention  to  some  of 
its  difficulties,  and  warn  the  man  who  feels  the  lure  of 
the  land  in  his  heart  against  possible  disasters. 

At  the  same  time,  I  would  extend  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship  to  those  who  come.  I  would  teach  them  the 
philosophy  of  patience,  the  dignity  of  labor,  the  splen- 
dor of  producing  something  that  is  of  real  value  and 
not  merely  an  exchanging  of  values  with  the  hope  of  a 
"  commission,"  and  instil  into  their  minds  the  philos- 
ophy of  living  as  near  to  nature  as  possible.  Then  if 
they  follow  the  natural  impulse,  they  will  not  suffer  such 
grievous  disappointments,  nor  magnify  disasters,  nor 


10  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

falter  in  their  faith  in  the  midst  of  difficulties.  They 
will  be  able  to  build  up,  in  the  sunlight  and  the  air  of 
heaven,  a  real  home  of  comfort  founded  upon  labor, 
and  of  happiness  and  contentment  of  a  purely  natural 
character. 


II 

AGRICULTURE  A  LEARNED  PROFESSION 

TO  the  city  man,  even  if  his  boyhood  was  spent  in 
the  country,  farming  is  an  unskilled  profession. 
In  other  words,  anybody  can  be  a  farmer.  If  a  farmer 
should  have  a  number  of  sons  differing  in  mental  ca- 
pacity, he  probably  would  take  the  one  who  had  the 
gift  of  speech  for  the  purpose  of  making  of  him  a 
preacher  or  a  lawyer,  the  one  who  believed  in  research 
might  be  a  scientist  or  a  physician,  while  the  one  who 
seemed  to  have  no  particular  ability  for  anything  would 
be  selected  to  stay  upon  the  farm.  If  the  facts  of 
farming  were  properly  appreciated,  quite  a  different 
attitude  would  be  manifested.  The  brightest  and  best 
of  the  boys  by  all  means  should  be  kept  upon  the  farm. 
It  is  a  fundamental  error  to  suppose  that  farming  is 
neither  a  business  nor  a  profession.  It  is  a  business 
which  requires  the  highest  business  talent,  it  is  a  pro- 
fession which  requires  the  best  technical  skill.  It  is 
true  that  farming  perhaps  embraces  a  larger  percentage 
of  unskilled  men  than  any  other  profession,  but  that  is 
not  the  fault  of  farming  itself.  There  is  no  other  pro- 
fession that  requires  such  a  variety  of  learning,  such  an 
insight  into  nature,  such  skill  of  a  technical  kind  in 
order  to  be  successful,  as  the  profession  of  farming. 
That  this  is  recognized  as  a  fact  may  be  easily  shown 
by  a  few  commonly  recognized  truths. 

All  over  the  world  schools  of  agriculture  are  multi- 
11 


12  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

plying.  A  hundred  years  ago  there  was  no  such  thing 
as  an  agricultural  school,  the  agricultural  experiment 
station  was  unknown.  A  lot  of  facts  had  been  ac- 
cumulated by  experience,  but  these  facts  were  not  cor- 
related nor  put  into  any  kind  of  a  systematic  form  or 
shape.  The  man  without  brains,  provided  he  had 
hands  and  muscle,  was  considered  the  ideal  farmer. 
How  much  that  has  changed  one  needs  only  to  look 
around  him  to  see! 

That  great  statesman,  Senator  Morrill  of  Vermont, 
was  one  of  the  first  of  our  public  men  to  realize  the 
importance  of  farming  as  a  profession.  During  the 
throes  of  the  Civil  War,  when  it  was  uncertain  whether 
or  not  the  nation  would  survive,  Senator  Morrill  took 
the  stand  that  he  believed  the  nation  would  survive 
and  in  its  survival  would  depend  upon  its  agriculture 
for  its  wealth  and  progress.  In  1862  he  saw  enacted 
into  law  his  bill  introduced  into  Congress  to  establish 
agricultural  colleges  in  all  the  States.  To  this  end 
he  provided  that  the  United  States  grant  a  portion  of 
its  public  lands  for  this  purpose.  In  the  older  States 
there  were  no  public  lands,  therefore  he  devised  a 
scheme  of  opening  the  vast  domain  of  the  West  not  only 
to  actual  settlers,  but  also  to  preemption  by  the  States. 
A  certain  number  of  acres  of  land  was  set  aside  for 
each  State,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  representa- 
tives and  senators  it  had  in  Congress.  Thus  the  old 
States,  such  as  !N"ew  York  and  Massachusetts,  would 
have  the  same  opportunity  to  have  the  benefit  of  this 
great  grant  as  the  new  States  and  territories  where  the 
lands  were  situated. 

When  this  proposal  of  Senator  Morrill  became  a  law, 
very  little  was  thought  of  its  value  and  brilliant  future. 
The  States  themselves  were  slow  to  appreciate  it.  They 


AGRICULTURE  A  LEARNED  PROFESSION  13 

came  into  possession  of  what  was  called  land  script, 
that  is,  orders  on  the  public  domain  in  any  locality 
where  preemption  had  not  already  taken  place.  As  it 
is  possible  to  divide  men  into  wise  and  foolish,  so  it 
was  soon  possible  to  divide  the  States  into  wise  and 
foolish.  Some  of  the  States,  notably  New  York,  lo- 
cated their  land  script  and  kept  the  land,  which  of 
course  has  increased  immensely  in  value.  Others,  and 
among  them  my  own  State,  Indiana,  sold  their  orders 
on  the  public  domain  at  a  fabulously  low  price.  Indi- 
ana had,  in  round  numbers,  nine  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  public  land  assigned  to  it  for  purposes  of  agricul- 
tural instruction,  not  excluding  the  mechanical  arts  and 
military  tactics.  This  vast  amount  of  script  was  sold 
for  less  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  other 
words  less  than  fifty  cents  per  acre.  What  a  mine  of 
wealth  the  State  would  have  possessed  had  it  located  its 
lands  and  kept  them  for  leasing  purposes!  Probably 
to-day  the  annual  income  of  the  State  from  this  source 
would  have  been  greater  than  the  whole  of  the  money 
received  for  the  sale  of  the  land. 

But  in  spite  of  the  wastefulness  with  which  these 
grants  were  handled,  the  purpose  for  which  they  were 
made  has  been  realized.  In  every  State  and  territory 
of  the  Union  to-day  there  is  an  agricultural  school, 
which  also  teaches  the  mechanical  arts  and  military 
tactics  in  harmony  with  the  law  of  Congress,  and  these 
schools  are  all  endowed,  partially  or  fully,  by  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  land  given  under  the  Morrill  act.  In 
some  States  the  fund  has  been  divided,  so  that  there  is 
more  than  one  college.  This  is  the  case  especially  in 
some  of  the  Southern  States,  where  a  college  has  been 
established  both  for  whites  and  blacks.  It  is  difficult 
to  estimate  to-day  the  total  income  in  the  interest  of 


14  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

agriculture  and  technical  education  which  arises  from 
the  benefits  of  the  Morrill  act. 

The  States  have  also  given  additional  sums  for  the 
support  of  these  institutions.  Later  additions  were 
made  to  the  grants  of  funds  from  the  public  treasury 
in  the  interest  of  agricultural  education.  Among  the 
first  of  these  was  the  Hatch  act,  establishing  particu- 
larly agricultural  experiment  stations. 

Wonderful  as  is  this  endowment,  the  greatest  ever 
given  to  education  by  any  nation  or  at  any  period  of 
history,  the  progress  of  agricultural  training  has  not 
been  limited  alone  to  the  colleges  and  experiment  sta- 
tions. Forty  years  ago  the  Farmers'  Institute  was 
almost  unknown.  To-day  hundreds  of  institutes  are 
held  throughout  the  whole  country,  in  which  the  data 
relating  to  agricultural  progress  are  presented  and  dis- 
cussed. I  well  remember  my  first  appearance  at  a 
Farmers'  Institute,  now  nearly  forty  years  ago,  as  a 
young  teacher  of  agricultural  chemistry.  I  was  ex- 
pected to  tell  the  farmers  something  about  the  princi- 
ples of  fertility.  It  was  an  embarrassing  situation  to 
me,  having  only  lately  come  into  this  work  and  being 
so  little  acquainted  with  all  of  its  ramifications.  For- 
tunately for  my  reputation,  my  audience  knew  even 
less  than  I.  The  terms  "  phosphorus,"  "  potash  "  and 
"  nitrogen,"  were  indeed  Greek  to  the  farmer  as  most 
of  them  were  Greek  in  their  etymology.  But  at  least 
there  was  an  awakening  among  them.  It  was  the  dawn 
of  a  new  era  in  Agriculture. 

If  we  could  only  compare  this  primitive  institute  in 
Indiana  with  one  of  its  modern  descendants,  what  a 
contrast  there  would  be!  From  my  point  of  view  the 
institute  was  a  great  deal  more  of  a  school  to  me  than 
it  was  to  the  farmers  who  came.  I  realized  then,  at 


AGRICULTURE  A  LEARNED  PROFESSION  15 

the  beginning  of  my  professional  life,  the  magnificent 
problem  of  agricultural  science,  and  although  I  have 
devoted  much  of  my  life  to  the  study  of  that  problem, 
I  realize  to-day  how  utterly  unsolved  it  still  is. 

Many  years  ago,  when  the  scientific  sun  was  just 
rising  on  the  general  farmer,  I  tried  to  put  some  of 
these  ideas  into  rime.  My  purpose  was  to  portray, 
if  possible,  the  ideas  which  were  planted  in  the  mind  of 
the  old  farmer  when  he  first  attended  the  Farmers'  In- 
stitute. These  rimes  run  as  follows: 

FARMER  JOHNSON  RELATES  HIS  IMPRESSIONS  OF 
THE  "  INSTITOOT."  1 

You  seen  the  notice,  William,  of  the  meetin'  up  to  town, 
Of  the  farmers  in  the  Institoot,  they  come  from  all  aroun'. 
There  wuz  Billy  Woods  from  Haw  Patch,  and  old  Sam  Mapes 

from  Hope, 
And  Peter  Hughes  and  Barney  Flinn  and  Tecumseh  Sherman 

Swope. 

And  half  the  town  from  Taylorsville,  and  you  had  orter  seen 
Judge  Edgington  a  mixin'  round  amongst  us  playin'  green. 
And  Lawyer  Sims  wuz  also  there,  you  see  it  seems  ez  how 
He's  up  for  the  ligislatur  and  wants  to  lam  to  plow. 

And  the  fellers  from  the  College  of  Agricultur,  they 
Wuz  thick  ez  lightning  bugs  in  June  and  had  a  heap  to  say. 
Ther  wuz  one  they  called  a  chemist,  and  he  kind  a  seemed  to 

know 
All  that  wuz  in  the  air  above  and  in  the  ground  below. 

He  sed  we  needed  nitergin,  and  showed  us  how  the  stuff 
Wuz  awful  high  and  skeerce  for  crops,  while  in  the  air  enough 
Wuz  found  to  make  us  'tarnal  rich  if  we  could  only  git 
Some  cheap  and  sarten  projeck  of  hitchin'  on  to  hit. 

He  sed  that  peas  and  clover  and  other  crops  like  them, 
Wuz  jist  the  stuff  to  do  it  and  store  it  in  the  stem, 

i "  Songs  of  Official  Agricultural  Chemists,"  Washington,  1800. 


16  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

And  the  yearth  is  full  of  critters  that  eat  this  stuff  you  see, 
And  change  it  in  a  twinkle  into  ammoniee. 

That  arternoon  the  sheriff  he  as't  us  out  to  see 
Some  Jerseys  in  his  pastur;  the  prof,  he  rode  by  me, 
We  crossed  the  crick  at  Haskell's  and  passed  the  clover  field 
Whar  he  hed  wheat  last  summer  with  sich  a  bustin'  yield. 

The  professor  he  wuz  lookin'  and  when  the  field  he  spied, 

"  Them  taters  're  lookin'  splendid  fur  the  time  o'  year,"  he 

cried. 
"  Them  ain't  taters,"  said  I,  laffin' ;  "  why,  professor,  don't  you 

know 
Thet  's  the  clover  which  you  told  us  would  give  us  sich  a  show  ?  " 

Sence  I  come  back  from  the  Institoot  it  really  appears 
Thet  potash,  nitrate,  phosphorus,  wuz  ringin'  in  my  ears, 
And,  William,  it  seems  purty  tough  thet  you  and  Jim  and  me 
Have  went  along  so  ign'rant  of  what  we  daily  see. 

Jist  hauled  manure  out  on  the  pints  and  plowed  and  hoed  and 

mowed, 

And  worked  so  hard  for  little  pay,  and  never,  never  knowed 
Thet  clover,  peas,  and  beans,  and  sich  ez  the  chemist  mentioned 

there, 
Hev  the  highly  useful  knack  of  suckin'  niter  from  the  air. 

Having  retired  now  for  several  years  from  address- 
ing farmers'  institutes,  I  would  be  almost  afraid  again 
to  attempt  it,  so  wise  and  critical  have  the  farmers  be- 
come on  all  the  points  relating  to  the  scientific  expo- 
sition of  the  principles  which  underlie  their  profession. 

Not  only  have  the  farmers'  institutes  done  this  won- 
derful service,  but  they  are  not  the  only  avenues  of 
progress.  We  have  now  throughout  the  country  agri- 
cultural trains  passing  rapidly  from  county  to  county, 
carrying  a  corps  of  learned  and  practical  men,  with 
coaches  filled  with  exhibits  and  charts  of  instruction, 
thus  bringing  to  the  very  doors  of  the  farmer  who  is 


'THE    CHILDREN     WILL 


NOT     (iET    TO    COLLEGE    UNLESS 
A    CHANCE    TO   SELL" 


I     SHOl'LD     FIND 


I't  I.I.KD    ri*    AN    ACHK    OK    I'KAOI   '"Hi  II  Mil)  AM)  So\\  KD   A  I.KAI.KA 


AGEICULTURE  A  LEARNED  PROFESSION  17 

unable  to  attend  the  agricultural  college  or  visit  the 
experiment  station,  the  best  fruits  of  their  activities. 

Finally,  there  has  come  to  the  aid  of  the  instruction 
in  agriculture  the  moving  pictures,  showing  the  varie- 
ties of  farm  life  and  the  methods  of  overcoming  its 
mechanical  difficulties,  illustrating  the  tillage  of  the 
soil,  the  growth  of  the  crops  and  the  activities  and  pe- 
culiarities of  farm  animals,  the  wonderful  intelligence 
and  technique  of  the  honey  bee,  and  so  on  through  the 
list. 

I  doubt  if  there  is  any  other  branch  of  knowledge  to- 
day which  has  a  larger  endowment,  more  competent 
corps  of  teachers,  more  enthusiastic  pupils,  than  the 
great  university  of  agriculture,  which  exists  in  all  of 
the  manifold  forms  which  I  have  described  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  The  United  States 
is  by  no  means  the  only  country  in  which  it  is  recog- 
nized that  farming  is  a  learned  profession.  In  Eu- 
rope and  in  the  islands  and  continents  of  the  seas,  and 
even  in  Asia  and  Africa,  the  elucidation  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  agriculture  is  constantly  carried 
on.  Professors  and  tutors  and  artists  and  mechanics 
and  photographers  and  illustrators  are  carrying  this 
new  propaganda  throughout  the  world. 


m 

THE  BOOMERS  AND  THE  BOOMEES 

THE  city  man  of  small  means  who  has  acquired  a 
passion  for  the  country  is  picked  out  as  an  easy 
mark  by  the  boomers  who  have  attractive  (on  paper) 
orchards,  gardens  and  farms  to  sell.  The  "  boom " 
perhaps  may  take  the  form  of  a  poultry  campaign,  and 
some  of  the  older  readers  may  remember  the  epidemic 
of  "  hen  fever  "  that  spread  over  the  country  forty  or 
fifty  years  ago. 

There  is  the  same  principle  underlying  all  exploita- 
tions of  this  kind:  first,  the  skilful  and  insidious  play 
upon  the  human  desire,  and  the  attractive  and  decep- 
tive form  in  which  that  desire  may  be  gratified.  The 
typical  promoter  is  by  no  means  devoid  of  intellect ;  in 
point  of  fact,  he  is  shrewd,  keen,  intelligent  and  con- 
scienceless. He  is,  above  everything  else,  a  profound 
student  of  psychology.  He  knows  to  the  uttermost 
limit  the  moods  and  passions  of  man.  He  plays  upon 
them  skilfully,  as  the  virtuoso  touches  the  keys  of  the 
piano. 

A  story  is  told  of  an  event  which  took  place  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  makers  of  automobiles.  At  this  meeting 
the  various  proprietors  or  manufacturers  of  the  different 
motor  cars  had  the  opportunity  of  freely  advertising 
their  own  special  brands.  One  of  the  largest  of  the 
makers,  while  on  the  floor,  described  the  wonderful  scope 
of  his  business.  He  said,  "  You  scarcely  realize  the 

magnitude  of  the  business  which  I  represent,  and  per- 

18 


THE  BOOMERS  AND  THE  BOOMEES        19 

haps  a  simple  illustration  will  suffice.  We  make  and 
sell  a  complete  car  every  two  minutes."  The  manufac- 
turer who  followed  him  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage 
of  the  opening.  He  remarked,  "  The  business  of  the 
gentleman  who  preceded  me  is  undoubtedly  of  great 
magnitude,  and  well  illustrated  by  what  he  said.  The 
business  of  the  gentleman  is,  however,  not  nearly  so 
great  as  it  ought  to  be.  He  should  be  ashamed  of  not 
having  improved  all  of  his  opportunities.  He  told  us 
that  he  made  and  sold  a  motor  car  every  two  minutes  — 
he  should  remember  that  a  sucker  is  born  every  minute." 
Unfortunately  all  of  these  suckers  are  not  buying 
motor  cars.  Hundreds  and  thousands  of  them  are  in- 
vesting in  orchards,  in  gardens  and  in  lands.  In  the 
past  few  years  there  has  been  a  remarkable*revival  of 
land  speculation,  and  many  thousands  of  the  citizens 
of  our  country  have  bought  and  paid  for  impossible  or 
inaccessible  fields  and  gardens.  Especially  was  this 
illustrated  in  the  fever  which  spread  over  the  country 
for  purchasing  the  Florida  everglades.  These  lands 
were  presented  in  such  an  attractive  manner  that  it 
was  impossible  to  believe  that  any  person  investing  in 
them  could  fail  to  make  a  fortune,  and  that  speedily. 
Visions  of  orange  trees  and  luscious  grape  fruits  and 
the  less  hardy  lemon  were  dangled  before  the  eyes  of 
the  hypnotized  investor,  who  could  even  scent  the  odor 
of  the  flowers  and  see  the  glory  of  the  wild  orchids  in 
the  nearby  forests.  In  so  far  as  the  alligator  and  the 
rattlesnake  were  concerned,  they  almost  ceased  to  exist ; 
but  enough  of  them  were  left  for  the  attractive  pocket- 
book  and  traveling  bag.  The  salubrity  of  the  climate 
was  painted  in  such  colors  as  to  make  it  no  wonder  that 
Ponce  de  Leon  sought  for  the  waters  of  eternal  youth  in 
this  floral  paradise. 


20  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

In  point  of  fact,  however,  this  beautiful  country,  BO 
artfully  and  ingeniously  portrayed,  was  principally  un- 
der water,  leading  one  of  the  members  of  Congress,  in 
referring  to  the  matter  in  a  speech  upon  the  floor  of 
the  house,  to  remark  that  it  was  "  a  shame  to  sell  those 
lands  by  the  acre,  they  should  be  sold  by  the  gallon." 

Even  the  officials  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
were  drawn  into  the  controversy  in  a  way  not  at  all  to 
the  credit  of  some  of  them.  Publications  telling  the 
truth  about  these  lands  were  suppressed,  and  other  pub- 
lications, coloring  gorgeously  the  attractiveness  of  the 
everglades,  were  permitted  to  be  distributed.  The  en- 
gineer who  had  stuck  to  the  truth  and  told  it,  was  dis- 
charged on  a  trumped  up  allegation  of  having  misap- 
propriated public  funds.  He  was  even  prosecuted  be- 
fore the  grand  jury  and  indicted  for  this  offense,  only 
to  have  the  indictment  quashed  and  to  be  restored  to 
his  position  when  all  the  facts  of  the  case  were 
known. 

Old  soldiers  were  especially  invited  to  spend  their 
last  days  in  a  land  where  frost  did  not  corrupt,  nor  mos- 
quitoes break  through  and  squeal.  Impecunious  clerks 
in  the  departments  were  induced  to  invest  their  hard 
earned  dollars,  which  they  so  much  needed  for  the 
necessities  of  life,  in  these  visionary  dreams  of  agri- 
cultural wealth. 

My  own  name  was  used  very  extensively  by  the  pro- 
moters of  these  schemes,  without  my  consent  and  against 
my  positive  requests  to  the  contrary,  and  it  was  neces- 
sary even  to  threaten  the  users  with  legal  proceedings 
before  my  name  was  withdrawn. 

~No  less  deceptive  and  insistent  were  the  advertise- 
ments of  the  wonderful  profits  to  be  made  from  orchards, 
especially  in  the  States  of  Washington,  Oregon,  Colo- 


THE  BOOMERS  AND  THE  BOOMEES       21 

rado,  Idaho  and  Montana.  Even  the  nearby  Virginias 
were  exploited.  Wonderful  offers  were  made  to  intend- 
ing investors :  their  orchards  would  be  planted  and  cared 
for  for  five  years  at  a  charge  included  in  the  purchase 
price,  and  then  all  they  would  have  to  do  would  be  to 
live  forever  on  the  wonderful  income  which  would  be 
secured.  Stories  of  the  realization  of  five  hundred  or 
one  thousand  dollars  per  acre,  or  even  more,  were  scat- 
tered abroad  to  inflame  the  desire  and  obscure  the  judg- 
ment of  persons  with  small  means. 

The  number  of  well  intentioned  persons  who,  having 
accumulated  a  few  thousand  dollars,  were  led  to  sacri- 
fice it  all  and  to  be  brought  to  the  door  of  starvation 
in  their  old  age,  would  be  phenomenally  large  if  all  the 
names  of  the  victims  could  be  collected.  Unfortunately 
those  who  have  lost  everything  in  ventures  of  this  kind 
are  prone  to  keep  the  matter  quiet,  while  an  investor 
who  has  made  money  announces  it  with  trumpets  from 
the  housetops. 

The  irrigable  lands  also  are  largely  in  the  same  cate- 
gory. Every  possible  town  site  in  the  desert  was  pre- 
empted by  promoters  who  relied  upon  sales  of  the  desert 
lands  to  secure  the  funds  for  development.  The  re- 
markable work  which  is  being  done  in  the  reclamation 
service,  winning  thousands  of  acres  of  land  from  the 
desert  to  the  garden,  becomes  the  basis  of  a  campaign 
to  induce  intending  investors  to  buy  these  irrigated 
lands  long  before  a  drop  of  water  is  in  sight.  Even 
where  water  was  available,  the  conditions  which  pre- 
vailed were  so  distorted  as  to  lead  to  the  investment 
of  the  little  all  of  the  new  farmer  in  a  manner  whereby 
absolute  failure  was  inevitable.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing if  the  personal  stories  of  these  deceptions  could  bo 
widely  distributed,  but,  as  a  rule,  those  who  have  suf- 


22  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

fered  and  become  the  innocent  victims  of  these  propa- 
gandas of  promotion,  are  unwilling  to  have  their  names 
appear  in  print. 

It  is  the  old  story  of  the  gold  mine  over  and  over 
again.  Perhaps  as  long  as  humanity  remains  as  it  is, 
the  art  of  the  deceiver  will  flourish.  The  same  princi- 
ple which  permits  huge  fortunes  to  accumulate  by  the 
sale  of  quack  remedies  and  worthless  nostrums,  is  the 
one  employed  to  separate  the  hard-earned  money  of  the 
people  and  pour  it  into  the  coffers  of  the  wicked  pro- 
moter. It  is  one  of  the  astounding  facts  of  humanity 
—  to  realize  the  truth  of  the  fundamental  principle  of 
Barnum's  career, —  namely,  that  the  people  love  to  be 
humbugged.  It  is  not  quite  so  bad  when  this  humbug- 
gery  extends  simply  to  going  to  a  show.  And  after  all 
Barnum  was  not  so  great  a  humbug  as  he  claimed  to  be, 
because  he  gave  a  really  interesting  and  instructive 
performance. 

From  the  financial  point  of  view,  also,  the  victim 
of  the  quack  remedy  is  not  so  much  to  be  pitied,  because 
it  is  only  occasionally  that  he  invests  all  he  has  in  a 
worthless  remedy.  Usually  the  promoter  is  wise 
enough  not  to  reduce  him  to  penury,  because  that  would 
take  him  out  of  the  ranks  of  his  patrons.  The  wilder 
the  theory,  it  appears  to  me,  the  more  devoted  the  con- 
vert. Vagaries  in  politics,  and  especially  in  religion, 
are  quite  as  pronounced  as  those  in  medicine,  and  in 
gold  mines,  and  in  submerged  farms  and  non-existent 
orchards. 

This  Satanic  cult  even  goes  to  the  extent  of  defraud- 
ing the  people  in  the  matter  of  the  foods  they  use. 
Simple  cereals,  the  cost  of  which  is  perhaps  not  to  ex- 
ceed one  and  one-half  cents  a  pound,  are  put  up  in  at- 
tractive packages  under  fine  sounding  names  and  sold 


THE  BOOMERS  AND  THE  BOOMEES  23 

to  the  consumer  at  profits  of  from  300  to  3,000  per 
cent.  All  along  the  line  of  battle  are  found  the  camp 
followers  who  exploit  human  credulity  and  weakness 
and  hypnotize  and  rob.  We  are  hardly  happy  without 
our  daily  deception  in  some  form  or  other.  Those  who 
have  the  love  of  agriculture,  however,  should  be  par- 
ticularly on  their  guard  against  all  such  seductive  al- 
lurements. I  can  assure  you  all  that  there  is  no  quick 
road  to  wealth  along  the  agricultural  line.  What  lit- 
tle you  may  be  able  to  earn  will  come  from  much  labor 
and  much  sweating,  not  to  count  the  worry  and  the  dis- 
appointment. 

A  man  would  hardly  expect  to  gain  a  large  living  by 
investing  two  or  three  thousand  dollars.  The  average 
income  of  an  investment  in  this  country  is  probably 
not  over  five  per  cent,  of  the  invested  capital.  One 
thousand  dollars,  therefore,  cannot  be  expected  to  earn 
more  than  fifty  dollars.  If,  however,  you  add  to  the 
investment  your  own  personal  labor,  the  return  should 
be  larger.  The  man  who  works  in  the  field  every  work- 
day for  a  year  has  close  to  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  days  of  labor.  That  ought  to  be  worth  to  him  at 
least  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars,  and  if  he 
has  one  thousand  dollars  invested  in  his  farm  he  ought 
to  earn  five  per  cent,  on  the  investment  and  pay  himself 
almost  three  hundred  dollars  for  his  labor.  In  sober 
consideration  of  the  problem  that  is  all  that  any  one 
may  hope  to  have  by  investing  one  thousand  dollars  in 
ordinary  farm  land.  This  income,  too,  means  hard 
work  and  careful  attention. 

AN    ORCHARD    EXPERIENCE    IN    COLORADO. 

I  am  giving  an  experience  in  a  Colorado  orchard 
mostly  in  the  language  of  the  college  professor  who  left 


24  THE  LUKE  OF  THE  LAND 

his  position,  attracted  by  the  allurements  of  the  orchard 
business,  to  cast  his  fortunes  two  thousand  miles  away 
from  his  former  home  in  the  new  land  of  Eldorado.  He 
says: 

If  I  should  give  my  experiences  year  by  year  I  might  seem 
to  be  a  "  knocker."  No  one  likes  to  appear  in  that  light. 
Many  have  done  better  than  I,  and,  also,  some  have  fared 
worse. 

It  was  very  difficult  for  me  to  decide  to  buy  because  of  high 
prices  of  land.  I  held  off  for  some  two  months  and  looked  the 
country  over  tolerably  thoroughly  and  talked  to  all  I  met.  I 
believe  that  if  we  had  had  as  few  disastrous  years  as  old  timers 
all  declared  had  visited  here  within  the  twenty  years  before 
our  coming,  we  should  have  made  good,  even  at  prices  then 
prevailing.  We  bought  twenty  acres,  paying  approximately 
$800  an  acre  for  the  portion,  7^  acres,  in  bearing  apple  trees, 
and  $400  an  acre  for  the  12^2  acres  which  was  partly  set  with 
young  trees  and  in  alfalfa  and  partly  in  prune  trees. 

We  got  the  crop  on  the  trees  the  summer  we  bought,  that  is, 
the  summer  of  1905.  It  was  a  good  crop  and  brought  a  fair 
price.  Since  then  we  have  had  only  two  years  as  good.  There 
have  been  frosts  and  freezes  in  the  spring,  or  wind  and  hail 
in  summer,  or  snow  and  hail  and  freezing  weather  in  the  fall 
before  we  got  the  crop  harvested. 

In  1910  we  sold  the  bearing  apple  orchard,  7^2  acres,  for 
$6500,  and  paid  off  our  notes  and  had  the  12^2  acres  clear. 
In  1909  we  had  a  good  peach  year.  Our  orchard  netted  us 
about  $150  an  acre  that  season.  In  the  other  years  it  has  not 
paid  expenses.  In  the  fall  of  1912  I  pulled  up  one  acre  of 
peach  trees  and  sowed  the  ground  with  alfalfa.  I  expect  to 
pull  out  one  acre  more  this  fall.  That  will  leave  me  two  acres 
of  peach  trees. 

The  most  disastrous  year  this  valley  ever  saw  was  1912.  We 
had  bumper  crops  of  both  peaches  and  apples.  But  the  sum- 
mer was  cool  and  showery  and  the  peaches  were  late.  I  had 
just  begun  picking  when  there  came  a  snow  storm.  The  snow 
lay  on  the  peaches  for  a  day.  The  trees  were  already  break- 
ing with  fruit.  The  additional  weight  broke  many  limbs,  and 
some  trees  were  ruined.  The  snow  was  followed  by  frosts, 


THE  BOOMERS  AND  THE  BOOMEES        25 

which  spoiled  at  night  the  peaches  which  had  ripened  during 
the  day.  To  cap  the  climax,  the  market  was  full  and  our 
stuff  brought  no  price.  Most  of  the  peaches  were  allowed  to 
fall  to  the  ground.  "We  had  about  4000  boxes  go  on  to  the 
ground,  and  marketed  only  some  600  boxes. 

I  had  spent  money  in  the  summer  thinning  peaches,  buying 
ladders  and  box  stock  and  wrapping  paper.  All  in  the  neigh- 
borhood did  the  same.  Many  built  packing  sheds.  The  ap- 
ple crop  did  not  help  much,  for  the  country  was  stuffed  with 
apples  and  our  stuff  brought  very  low  prices.  The  money  for 
fruit  did  not  get  to  the  grower  until  the  following  summer. 

The  winter  of  1912-1913  was  the  severest  since  any  govern- 
ment record  has  been  kept,  and  many  peach  trees  were  killed. 
Some  whole  orchards  were  lost.  Since  that  year  many  mort- 
gages have  been  foreclosed.  In  the  fall  of  1912  I  had  to  bor- 
row $1000  on  account  of  the  freeze  and  low  prices,  and  had  to 
mortgage  the  place.  The  cold  winter  of  1912-1913  froze  the 
peach  trees,  and  so  we  had  no  peaches  last  season.  I  had  some 
300  boxes  of  fine  apples  on  the  young  trees  in  the  fall  of  1913, 
but  the  very  day  I  had  set  to  pick  them  there  came  the  worst 
hail  storm  I  ever  saw.  In  five  minutes  the  crop  was  punk. 

This  spring  looks  good  so  far,  but  I  have  learned  not  to  be 
puffed  up.  I  am  not  counting  the  money  for  the  crop,  nor 
thinking  of  ways  to  spend  it.  When  I  get  the  money  I'll  have 
it,  and  that's  all  there  is  to  it.  But  in  spite  of  all  this  we 
have  not  suffered  from  hunger,  though  we  fare  mighty  plainly. 
I  live  on  bread  and  milk  most  all  the  time.  Luxuries  we  have 
none,  excepting  the  scenery.  That  can  scarcely  be  excelled. 

I  never  saw  the  apple  orchards  look  finer  than  they  have 
this  year,  but  "  What  shall  the  harvest  be  ?  "  The  year  we 
came  here  a  banker  in  town  told  me  he  did  not  know  of  a 
case  of  foreclosure  of  mortgage  in  this  valley.  Since  1912 
there  have  been  dozens  of  foreclosures,  and  there  are  more  to 
follow  soon.  Those  who  came  here  in  early  times  —  twenty 
years  ago  —  and  got  the  land  cheap  and  have  their  homes 
clear  and  own  good  bearing  apple  orchards,  are  safe.  They 
can  stand  any  number  of  bumps.  We  have  some  such  neigh- 
bors. 

The  people  here  are  unusually  well  educated  and  well  read 
for  farmers.  There  are  many  ex-school  teachers,  school  super- 
intendents, college  graduates,  hard-headed  Germans  and  Quak- 


26  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

ers,  and  others  from  Iowa,  Missouri,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Massa- 
chusetts, New  York,  and  from  all  parts.  After  the  read- 
justment the  country  will  recover.  It  is  a  good  country  but 
over-boomed.  People  are  now  turning  attention  somewhat  to 
poultry,  pigs,  sheep,  alfalfa,  beets,  et  cetera.  We  were  tree 
crazy  for  a  time,  but  are  getting  more  sane. 

Now  is  a  good  time  to  invest  here.  I  know  several  bargains. 
Never  till  last  year  did  I  advise  any  one  to  buy.  Mr.  W.  H. 
and  wife  visited  us  last  summer.  They  live  in  Indianapolis. 
I  advised  them  to  buy  our  place  and  they  came  near  doing  so. 
If  I  had  $5000  or  $25,000,  I  would  invest  it  here  now.  One 
neighbor  who  has  some  30  acres  of  nice  orchard  says  it  is  still 
worth  $1000  an  acre.  They  do  not  wish  to  sell. 

Apple  raising  is  not  such  a  "  gamble  "  as  peach  raising.  By 
building  a  store-house  and  putting  the  apples  there  as  they  are 
picked,  one  can  take  time  to  pack  and  sell  them.  One  can 
learn  something  of  market  conditions.  If  the  prices  do  not 
warrant  shipping  them  hold  them  for  better  prices,  or  let  them 
rot  at  home  and  save  paying  expenses  of  packing  and  ship- 
ping. 

I  invested  all  I  had  and  borrowed  more.  I  am  in  debt.  I 
do  not  expect  ever  to  get  out.  The  children  will  not  get  to 
college,  unless  I  should  find  a  chance  to  sell  and  go  East  and 
buy  a  small  place  near  a  college  town.  We  are  cramped. 
Sometimes  I  feel  like  running  away  and  letting  the  place  go, 
but  that  would  hardly  do.  I'd  like  more  room.  Could  have 
done  better  on  a  general  farm.  I  understood  that  business; 
this  I  had  to  learn.  Prunes  were  of  no  account.  I  pulled  out 
the  prunes  and  set  apples.  Poor  lot  of  trees.  Did  no  good, 
not  true  to  name.  Had  to  graft  and  bud  and  reset  and  reset 
and  reset  every  spring. 

I  fear  I  cannot  give  you  a  true  notion  of  things  in  a  letter. 
I  might  in  a  pamphlet !  It  would  take  a  week  to  tell  you  what 
is  needed  to  understand  all.  But  it  is  surely  true  that  the 
booming  has  been  overdone.  Real  estate  agents  are  most  to 
blame,  I  think.  They  are  good  fellows  to  shun  when  buying 
property  out  here. 

It  is  true  that  occasionally  a  man  invests  in  a  gold 
mine  and  makes  a  fortune.  There  is  such  a  lucky  thing 


THE  BOOMERS  AND  THE  BOOMEES        27 

as  investing  in  land  and  making  a  fortune.  This  for- 
tune, however,  does  not  usually  come  the  agricultural 
way.  You  may  acquire  a  piece  of  land  where  the  future 
city  will  stand;  you  may  get  land  at  a  cheap  rate  and 
the  development  of  the  country  round  about  you  will 
rapidly  increase  its  value ;  coal  oil  or  gas  may  be  found 
underneath,  but  these  chances  are  much  less  common 
now  than  formerly.  Towns  are  pretty  well  located  in 
this  country,  railroad  building  is  not  very  vigorously 
pushed,  new  towns  that  amount  to  anything  are  rare; 
and  the  man  who  places  his  hope  of  a  fortune,  when  he 
invests  in  land,  in  the  development  of  a  new  town,  is 
hanging  his  future  on  a  very  fragile  thread. 

My  advice  to  intending  investors  is  to  keep  carefully 
away  from  investing  in  any  boom  advertised  scheme. 
I  would  not  say  that  they  are  all  bad,  but  I  never  yet 
have  seen  an  advertisement  of  a  land  scheme  that  wasn't 
grossly  exaggerated.  All  the  things  that  make  for  dif- 
ficulty and  labor  are  concealed,  while  the  possibilities  of 
income  are  enormously  distorted  to  gigantic  propor- 
tions. The  best  place  to  invest  is  a  place  that  you 
know.  Don't  go  so  far  from  your  base  as  to  lose  your 
line  of  supplies.  Better  get  a  poor  piece  of  land  nearby 
where  you  know  the  market  and  the  people,  than  to 
take  the  risk  of  a  very  fertile  piece  of  the  same  size 
three  thousand  miles  off.  If  I  am  to  make  my  living 
on  sand,  I  would  rather  get  a  field  on  Long  Island  than 
to  have  a  section  of  sand  in  Florida.  Oranges  and 
apples  come  with  tribulation  and  much  labor. 

All  is  not  gold  that  is  yellow,,  and  this  is  particularly 
true  of  the  citrus  fruits.  All  is  not  silver  that  has  a 
sheen  and  this  is  particularly  true  of  the  gorgeously  col- 
ored apple.  The  stories  of  profit  in  agriculture  should 
be  subjected  to  the  corrections  of  rigid  criticism. 


IV 

THE  BORN-ON-THE-FARM  MYTH 

IT  is  a  very  common  custom,  especially  with  those 
who  seek  political  favors,  to  impress  upon  the  elec- 
tors the  importance  of  the  fact  that  the  particular  can- 
didate in  question  was  born  on  a  farm.  It  certainly 
is  no  disgrace  to  have  been  born  upon  a  farm,  nor  is 
there  any  excuse  for  boasting  of  it.  In  so  far  as  the 
child  is  concerned,  the  birthplace  is  peculiarly  acci- 
dental. Important  as  heredity  is,  the  child  has  no 
choice  in  the  matter,  he  cannot  choose  either  his  father 
or  his  mother.  Important  as  environment  is,  the  new 
born  child  is  equally  the  creature  of  fate,  he  cannot 
choose  whether  he  shall  be  born  in  a  hovel  or  a  palace. 
This  pleasing  fiction,  which  is  so  sweet  under  the 
tongue  of  the  politician,  is  a  mute  tribute  to  the  im- 
portance of  rural  birth.  As  a  means  of  political  pre- 
ferment it  is  harmless,  and  at  most  creates  only  a  smile 
in  informed  auditors.  In  some  respects,  however,  being 
born  on  a  farm  is  a  positive  disadvantage.  As  a  rule, 
this  is  the  case  with  the  man  who  wants  to  be  a  farmer, 
especially  in  his  mature  years.  Old-fashioned  farming 
in  this  country  has  not  much  to  boast  of  from  a  scien- 
tific point  of  view.  There  was  plenty  of  hard  work, 
quite  enough  getting  up  at  four  o'clock  in  the  winter 
morning  to  milk  the  cows,  exposed  during  the  night  to 
the  inclemency  of  the  season,  quite  enough  of  the  un- 
scientific methods  of  feeding  the  farm  animals,  which 

28 


THE  BORN-ON-THE-FARM  MYTH  39 

•was  done  without  rime  or  reason,  and  quite  enough  of 
the  toleration  of  the  inconveniences  of  life,  which  in 
old-fashioned  farm-houses  undoubtedly  reached  their 
maximum. 

As  a  rule,  I  may  say  with  certainty  that  the  man  who 
was  born  on  the  farm  and  lived  on  the  farm  until  man- 
hood, and  afterwards  has  pursued  some  other  career 
until  the  advent  of  the  last  period  of  life,  suffers  a  dis- 
tinct disadvantage  and  handicap  from  his  early  experi- 
ences. The  only  hope  of  the  new  farmer  who  begins 
his  career  of  agriculture  after  the  maturity  of  his  years, 
is  in  adopting  the  latest  scientific  methods  of  culture. 
I  cannot  agree  with  the  theory  that  successful  farm- 
ing in  this  country  will  come  from  extensive  instead  of 
intensive  culture.  This  theory,  in  effect,  is  that  inten- 
sive farming  is  expensive  farming  and  extensive  farm- 
ing is  economical  farming.  The  first  part  of  this  state- 
ment is  undoubtedly  true,  but  in  the  light  of  modern 
progress  in  agriculture  we  must  take  exception  to  the 
latter  part  of  it.  A  more  correct  statement  would  be 
as  follows :  "  Intensive  farming  is  expensive  farming, 
extensive  farming  is  robbery." 

The  point  which  I  want  to  bring  out  clearly  is  this, 
that  the  man  of  to-day,  born  on  a  farm,  who,  at  fifty  or 
sixty  years  of  age,  thinks  of  abandoning  the  profes- 
sional career  to  which  he  has  been  devoted  since  man- 
hood, by  reason  of  his  longing  to  return  to  the  farm, 
has  had  no  real  experience  in  scientific  farming  during 
his  boyhood.  The  chances  are  one  hundred  to  one  that 
he  was  taught  extensive  farming,  in  other  words  agri- 
cultural highway  robbery. 

Extensive  farming  means  to  cultivate  as  much  as 
possible  and  pay  little  attention  to  the  feeding  of  the 
fields.  The  extensive  farmer  would  very  probably  take 


30  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

all  of  his  horses  at  the  beginning  of  the  plowing  season 
and  keep  them  at  the  plow  for  twelve  hours  a  day,  and 
feed  them  by  turning  them  out  to  pasture  at  night. 
Apparently  he  would  be  getting  very  economical  serv- 
ice ;  in  reality  he  would  be  destroying  his  motive  power. 
For  this  reason  the  man  born  on  the  farm  is  likely  to 
begin  his  new  farming  career  with  the  handicap  of  the 
bad  training  he  has  already  had. 

Proud  of  the  fact  of  his  early  experience,  he  will 
doubtless  proceed  again  to  put  it  into  practice.  It  was 
a  bad  practice  economically  in  the  beginning.  All  the 
fertility  which  Nature  had  stored  up  for  thousands  of 
years,  was  at  the  disposal  of  the  extensive  farmer. 
Usually  he  has  succeeded,  in  from  twenty-five  to  fifty 
years,  in  exhausting  all  this  accumulated  supply.  This 
is  instanced  by  the  well  known  fact  of  the  rapid  de- 
crease in  fertility  of  the  virgin  soils  of  the  country. 
Whether  they  originally  were  wooded  or  prairie,  the 
same  result  is  seen.  Some  of  the  deeper  and  more  fer- 
tile soils  last  longer,  but  the  shallow  and  rolling  soils 
rapidly  succumb.  It  is  far  better,  therefore,  while  still 
being  proud  of  the  birth  on  a  farm,  to  forget  all  else 
except  that  one  fact  in  resuming  agricultural  activities. 

"  Book  farming  is  deceptive  and  misleading,  and  the 
book  farmer  is  doomed  to  failure."  The  above  state- 
ment is  both  true  and  false.  Book  farming  is  apt  to 
exaggerate  the  good  points  and  minimize  the  difficulties 
of  scientific  agriculture.  This  is  especially  true  of  of- 
ficial bulletins,  both  national  and  State.  The  law 
should  require  that  all  failures  should  be  as  carefully 
recorded  as  successes.  A  book  on  farming  which  would 
feature  the  failures  as  prominently  as  it  did  the  suc- 
cesses would  not  be  a  misleading  book. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  chances  of  the  old 


THE  BORN-ON-THE-FARM  MYTH  31 

time  farmer  resuming  his  place  on  the  farm  are  de- 
cidedly bad.  The  doctrine  of  probabilities  does  not 
work  out  in  his  favor.  He  is  more  likely  to  fail  than  to 
succeed.  He  is,  however,  certain  to  fail  if  he  relies 
upon  the  old  methods.  His  only  hope  is  in  the  reason- 
able application  of  the  facts  which  the  science  of  farm- 
ing has  developed.  These  fundamental  facts  were 
never  taught  to  the  boy  upon  the  farm  of  a  quarter  of 
a  century  or  a  half  century  ago.  What  is  the  funda- 
mental fact  of  successful  agriculture?  It  is  this:  the 
soil  is  not  dead,  inert  matter;  it  is  a  living  organism, 
it  demands  care  and  protection,  above  all  it  asks  for 
food,  it  has  its  idiosyncrasies.  The  successful  farmer  is 
necessarily  a  psychologist.  He  studies  the  mind  of  the 
soil.  No  one  can  sit  down  and  describe  just  what  a 
field  is  like.  The  fields  are  fitful  as  the  maidens. 
They  may  never  be  in  the  same  mood  two  years  follow- 
ing. They  will  fancy  this  or  that,  as  the  passion  may 
seize  them,  but  one  thing  they  never  forget  and  that  is 
to  eat  It  may  be  kainite  to-day,  it  is  likely  to  be  fish 
scrap  to-morrow,  but  the  field  "wants  what  it  wants 
when  it  wants  it." 

Science  shows  the  way.  The  farmer,  however,  can- 
not be  made  by  science  alone.  He  must  have  the  sense 
of  the  real  farmer.  As  Whitcomb  Eiley  puts  it,  he 
must  be  able  to  divine  the  "  feel  in  the  air." 

From  another  point  of  view  the  early  experience  on 
the  farm  is  likely  to  be  a  handicap.  As  a  rule  it  is 
not  always  agreeable.  The  life  of  the  old-fashioned 
farmer's  boy  is  a  hard  one.  The  man  will  perhaps 
retain  the  feeling  of  the  boy,  that  labor  is  a  curse,  es- 
pecially farm  labor.  Above  all  things  the  intending 
fanner  of  mature  years  must  forget  that  labor  ever 
was  a  curse.  He  must  feel  that  it  is  an  opportunity 


32  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

and  a  joy  and  a  blessing.  His  early  experience  on  the 
farm  is  not  likely  to  help  him  along  in  that  line.  Of 
course  he  begins  his  new  labors  from  a  new  point  of 
view.  His  attitude  towards  the  plow  is  quite  different 
from  that  of  a  boy;  but  it  is  hard  to  get  over  these 
early  impressions,  and  hence  the  intending  farmer  is 
more  than  likely  to  look  forward  to  a  career  of  resting 
in  the  shade  and  watching  other  people  work.  Rest 
of  course  is  not  only  physiological  and  necessary,  and 
delightful,  but  there  can  be  no  rest  if  there  is  no  work, 
and  the  modern  farmer  should  not  sit  in  the  shade  un- 
til he  has  earned  that  right  by  becoming  fatigued  in  the 
sun. 

But  approached  from  the  point  of  view  of  science, 
the  labor  of  the  farm  is  a  continued  joy.  It  is  a  manip- 
ulation of  the  laboratory  which  the  real  chemist  does 
not  relegate  to  a  helper,  it  is  the  touching  of  a  canvas 
by  an  artist's  brush  which  cannot  be  left  to  an  amateur. 
The  hired  man  can  never  put  a  soul  into  a  field  any 
more  than  the  hired  painter  can  put  a  soul  into  a  pic- 
ture. 

For  these  reasons  the  man  who  was  born  in  the  city, 
and  who  by  the  great  impress  of  heredity  some  time  in 
his  life  feels  the  lure  of  the  land,  has  a  good  chance  to 
become  a  good  farmer,  perhaps  as  good  as  the  boy  who 
was  born  upon  the  farm.  I  do  not  claim  for  a  moment 
that  every  man,  even  if  born  in  the  city,  could  be  suc- 
cessful on  the  farm.  That  is  not  reasonable.  A  lot 
of  people  who  were  born  in  the  city  can  never  become 
farmers,  any  more  than  boys  born  on  the  farm  can  be. 
We  must  not  forget  the  natural  tact  and  ability,  with- 
out which  none  of  us  can  ever  succeed  in  anything,  no 
matter  how  patiently  we  try. 

The  point  which  I  wish  to  accentuate  is  that  when 


THE  BORN-ON-THE-FARM  MYTH  33 

one  goes  at  a  plump  age  to  till  the  soil,  he  must  carry 
with  him  the  knowledge  which  science  has  taught  and 
the  implements  which  the  artizan  has  devised.  The 
old  methods  of  farming  to  which  he  was  accustomed 
when  a  boy  are  as  obsolete  as  the  old  implements  of 
agriculture.  I  remember  well  when  the  first  machine 
for  cutting  hay  came  into  the  community  where  I  lived, 
and  a  few  years  after  when  the  first  machine  for  reap- 
ing wheat  was  introduced.  I  have  seen  myself  and  my 
father  and  his  helpers  go  into  the  field  with  cradles.  I 
remember  his  telling  me  what  a  wonderful  thing  the 
cradle  was  as  compared  with  the  sickle  of  his  boyhood 
days.  "  The  cradle,"  he  says,  "  has  revolutionized  the 
wheat  industry  and  made  it  possible."  So  did  the 
sickle  in  its  time.  And  yet,  what  would  you  think  of 
the  farmer  of  to-day  who,  in  starting  out  in  his  new 
career,  would  buy  a  cradle  for  his  wheat  cutting  instead 
of  a  reaper  and  binder,  or  engine  and  thrasher,  or  would 
cut  clover  with  a  scythe  instead  of  a  mower  ?  Improved 
machinery  has  made  extensive  farming  economical,  but 
it  is  just  as  easy  to  harvest  a  field  of  wheat  that  yields 
thirty  bushels  per  acre  with  the  reaper  and  binder  as  it 
is  to  harvest  one  that  yields  thirteen,  and  the  economy 
of  the  larger  yield  is  readily  appreciated. 

It  is  a  good  heritage  to  have  been  born  upon  a  farm, 
but  the  farming  of  our  boyhood  days  is  a  thing  of  the 
past  in  so  far  as  economy  and  fruitful  farming  are  con- 
cerned. This  is  the  day  of  the  food  specialist.  It  is 
not  always  the  cheapest  food  that  is  the  most  economi- 
cal. The  idea  that  a  field  can  be  fed  solely  from  its 
own  resources  is  preposterous.  At  least  a  part  of  the 
crop  must  be  taken  off  every  year,  and  the  resources  of 
the  field  are  diminished  to  that  extent. 

To-day  the  farmer  who  farms  without  the  economy  of 


34  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

manure,  without  a  knowledge  of  any  deficiency  in 
plant  food  that  his  field  has,  without  the  knowledge  that 
the  leguminous  crops  can  increase  the  store  of  nitrogen, 
without  the  knowledge  that  certain  crops,  such  as  the 
leguminous,  will  not  grow  in  an  acid  soil,  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  kind  and  quantity  of  so-called  commer- 
cial fertilizers  he  can  buy,  is  a  man  who  starts  out  on  his 
career  with  a  certainty  of  defeat  staring  him  in  the 
face. 

To  succeed  to-day  on  the  farm  requires  courage,  in- 
dustry, tact,  knowledge,  patience,  enthusiasm  and 
brains.  As  S.  E.  Kiser  says  in  his  poem  "  Where 
Brains  Are  Needed  " : 

"  I  claim  it  takes  more  brains  to  farm,"  said  Ebenezer  Brown, 
"  Than  what  it  does  to  git  ahead  and  make  a  splash  in  town ; 
Why,  I  know  six  or  seven  chaps  from  this  here  neighborhood 
Who  went  away  to  cities,  where  they  're  busy  makin'  good. 

"  You  take  Chicago  and  New  York  —  size  up  the  big  men 

there  — 

The  lawyer,  doctor,  merchant  and  the  multimillionaire  — 
You  '11  find  they  've  all  been  farmer  boys,  or  lived  in  towns, 

at  least, 
Where  they  could  have  a  chance  to  learn  the  ways  of  bird 

and  beast. 

"  Now  take  these  city  chaps  who  come  to  cultivate  the  land  — 
I  don't  mean  millionaires  who  farm  for  fun,  you  under- 
stand — 

But  take  the  common  city  folks  who  try  to  farm,  and  say! 
It's  pitiful  the  way  they  try  to  make  their  farmin'  pay. 

"  I  've  saw  a  dozen  of  'em  fail ;  I  never  seen  one  yet 
Who  managed  to  be  prominent  or  not  get  into  debt ; 
And  so  I  claim  a  man  may  make  an  awful  splash  in  town 
And  not  have  brains  enough  to  farm,"  said  Ebenezer  Brown. 


THE  DAIRY  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  SMALL  FARMER 

THE  farmer  who  does  not  keep  a  cow  has  failed  to 
appreciate  one  of  the  fundamentals  of  agricultu- 
ral life,  Not  only  is  he  to  keep  a  cow,  but  she  is  to 
be  a  healthy  cow.  She  is  to  give  the  milk  and  butter 
for  the  family,  and  especially  for  the  child.  If  she  be 
afflicted  with  tuberculosis  or  lumpy  jaw  or  any  infec- 
tious or  repulsive  disease,  she  is  a  great  threat  not  only 
to  the  grown  members  of  the  family,  but  especially  to 
the  children.  The  skilled  veterinarian  as  a  rule  is  not 
out  of  reach,  and  the  examination  of  the  farmer's  cow 
for  disease  should  be  as  thorough  and  as  patiently  per- 
formed as  if  the  farmer  himself  were  applying  for  a  life 
insurance  policy.  Indeed,  that  is  what  he  is  doing 
when  he  calls  in  the  veterinarian  to  tell  him  whether  or 
not  the  farm  cow  is  diseased. 

The  cow  should  be  a  good  one,  not  necessarily  regis- 
tered, but  at  least  a  grade  of  some  established  milk  and 
butter  producing  breed.  The  Jersey,  the  Guernsey,  the 
Alderney,  the  Holstein,  the  Swiss,  aiid  other  breeds,  are 
notable  for  their  large  yield  of  dairy  products.  The 
Jersey  and  the  Guernsey,  especially,  are  noted  for  the 
high  content  of  butter-fat  which  is  found  in  their  milk. 
The  Holstein  produces  a  larger  quantity  of  milk,  but 
with  a  less  percentage,  though  an  equal  quantity,  of 
butter-fat. 

The  farm  cow  should  be  well  groomed.     She  should 

35 


36  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

not  be  permitted  to  become  infected  with  her  own  filth, 
as  is  too  often  the  case.  She  is  to  be  kept  clean  and 
well  curried,  and  especially  is  she  to  be  well  fed  if  a 
maximum  production  of  milk  is  to  be  obtained.  The 
small  farm  indeed  must  have  two  cows,  calving  at  dif- 
ferent periods,  so  that  there  is  always  milk  and  butter 
to  be  had  upon  the  farm.  In  fact,  for  the  small  farmer 
who  lives  near  a  large  city  there  is  probably  no  safer 
investment  than  to  keep  a  few  cows  for  milk-marketing 
purposes. 

ECONOMICAL    FEEDING. 

Even  with  the  small  farm  the  cows  can  be  kept  in 
clean,  dry  lots  and  barns,  and  fed  during  the  summer 
months  with  the  green  products  of  the  field.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  one  cow  kept  in  a  stall  can  be  maintained 
with  one-third  of  the  land  which  it  would  require  if 
she  were  turned  out  to  pasture.  Hence  the  farmer 
with  no  more  than  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  acres 
may  keep  from  fifteen  to  twenty  cows,  and  keep  them 
well.  He  can  do  this  by  growing  the  crops  which 
he  feeds  them  instead  of  turning  them  out  to  pasture. 
Unless  cows  that  are  kept  up  are  properly  stabled  and 
have  pure  water  and  pure  air,  as  well  as  good  food, 
they  are  much  more  subject  to  disease  than  when  they 
run  at  large  in  the  pasture.  Therefore  the  small 
farmer  with  a  small  herd  must  give  extra  care  and 
attention  to  the  health  of  his  cattle.  He  cannot  afford 
to  let  them  go  more  than  a  year  at  a  time  without  a 
careful  inspection  by  a  competent  veterinarian  to  de- 
termine whether  any  of  them  is  afflicted  with  incipient 
tuberculosis  or  other  contagious  disease.  It  would  be 
fatal  to  a  herd  that  is  kept  in  the  stable  to  have  a  single 
individual  thus  afflicted.  Only  by  vigilance  of  this 


THE  DAIRY  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  SMALL  FARMER       37 

kind  can  the  herd  be  kept  in  a  state  of  health  suitable 
for  the  production  of  potable  milk. 

It  is  a  crime  of  the  worst  character  to  sell  milk  frorc 
an  infected  animal.  It  may  go  into  a  home  where  an 
infant  or  young  child  is  nourished  by  it,  and  the  most 
dreadful  of  all  diseases,  tuberculosis,  may  be  conveyed 
in  this  way  from  the  cow  to  the  human  being.  I  am 
aware  that  this  theory  is  contested  by  authorities  emi- 
nent and  worthy  of  consideration.  Especially  did  the 
great  Dr.  Eobert  Koch  combat  the  theory  that  bovine 
tuberculosis  is  communicable  to  the  human  animal. 
The  weight  of  authority,  however,  supports  the  theory 
of  the  possibility  of  communication.  In  such  circum- 
stances the  only  safeguard  is  to  give  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt  to  the  consumer. 

AU"   OBJECT   LESSON. 

I  have  a  near  neighbor,  a  college  graduate,  who  has 
a  small  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  and  a  small  herd  of 
a  little  over  a  dozen  cows.  He  is  able  to  make  a  very 
decent  income  from  the  proper  scientific  handling  of 
these  animals.  If  he  had  to  depend  upon  a  pasture 
alone  to  give  them  their  green  food  in  summer,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  sustain  them  in  a  proper  condition  for 
the  production  of  the  maximum  quantity  of  milk  on  a 
farm  of  this  area.  In  the  soiling  process  the  green 
crops- are  harvested  and  fed  to  the  cattle,  and  thus  from 
a  small  area  a  large  quantity  of  fodder  can  be  produced. 
One  of  the  earliest  of  the  soiling  crops  is  rye,  and  this 
is  followed  by  alfalfa,  clover,  and  then  later  by  cow- 
peas,  vetch  and  Indian  corn,  so  that  from  early  spring 
until  late  autumn  a  continuous  succession  of  green 
crops  is  available.  Good  feeding  is  the  first  step  in 
getting  good  milk. 


38  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

THE!   SILO. 

The  food  of  the  dairy  cow  may  partly  be  derived 
from  ensilage.  There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of 
ensilage  and  but  little  against  it.  Judged  by  the  cow's 
taste,  it  is  almost  an  ideal  food.  She  eats  it  with  avid- 
ity. Indian  corn  is  the  common  material  of  which  en- 
silage is  made  in  this  country.  Green  rye,  cowpeas, 
green  clover  and  alfalfa  and  other  so-called  soiling 
crops  are  occasionally  used.  The  best  period  for  har- 
vesting ensilage  corn  is  at  the  time  the  grain  has  just 
become  hard  and  the  stalks  and  blades  have  not  lost 
their  succulence.  The  cutter  should  be  so  adjusted  as 
to  cut  the  material  into  pieces  of  small  size.  From  a 
quarter  to  half  an  inch  in  length  makes  an  ideal  en- 
silage. Longer  pieces  even  up  to  an  inch  may  keep 
very  well.  As  the  material  is  put  into  the  silo,  it  must 
be  well  distributed,  evenly  over  the  surface,  and 
tramped  as  close  as  possible.  The  heaviest  man  on  the 
place  should  go  into  the  silo  during  the  filling.  If  the 
corn  is  over  ripe  the  keeping  qualities  are  improved  by 
sprinkling  water  over  the  shredded  mass.  The  funda- 
mental condition  which  is  to  be  obtained  within  the 
silo  is  that  it  should  be  air  tight.  Wherever  there  is 
a  leak,  the  silage  will  be  spoiled.  From  a  foot  to 
eighteen  inches  of  the  top  of  the  silage  is  unfit  for  food. 
The  silo  is  usually  built  of  wood  staves.  Hollow  tiling 
and  concrete  structures  are  now  coming  into  vogue. 

Two  objections  are  made  to  the  use  of  silage  as  food 
for  milk  cows:  The  silage  is  said  at  times  to  give  a 
bad  taste  to  the  milk.  In  such  cases  the  silage  is  either 
of  poor  quality,  or  fed  in  too  large  quantities.  The 
acidity  of  silage  is  said  to  soften  the  teeth  and  thus 
limit  the  period  of  the  cow's  usefulness.  This  also  is 


THE  DAIRY  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  SMALL  FARMER        39 

not  likely  to  happen  when  the  silage  is  of  good  quality. 
Silage  is  not  a  complete  food  in  itself.  When  made 
from  Indian  corn  its  nitrogen  content  is  low.  It 
should,  therefore,  be  fed  in  connection  with  a  rich  nitrog- 
enous food,  such  as  bran,  oil  cake,  clover  or  alfalfa. 
When  the  ration  is  properly  adjusted  silage  is  the  most 
economical  bulk  food  that  can  be  had.  The  provident 
farmer  will  not  fail  to  fill  his  silo  during  the  last  days 
of  August  or  first  half  of  September,  even  if  he  has  not 
put  on  the  roof  nor  torn  away  the  scaifolding  used  in  its 
erection.  The  silo  is  a  graceful  structure  and  when 
artistically  roofed  and  properly  painted  adds  an  element 
of  architectural  beauty  to  the  plain  sheds  of  the  dairy 
buildings. 

The  dairy  is  a  better  bet  for  the  beginning  farmer 
than  the  orchard.  Its  income  is  more  prompt,  and 
while  it  may  not  be  so  great  in  spots,  it  is  evenly  dis- 
tributed over  the  year.  With  a  clean  product  from 
healthy,  well-kept  animals,  a  good  farmer  near  a  good 
market  ought  to  be  able  to  realize  twenty  cents  a  day 
net  on  each  animal  he  keeps.  I  mean  that  this  is  the 
profit  after  paying  for  freight  charges,  maintenance  and 
service.  A  net  income  of  three  dollars  a  day  in  cash, 
together  with  what  the  farmer  can  get  off  of  his  fields 
for  his  own  table,  is  quite  an  item  in  the  prosperity  and 
comfort  of  a  modest  farm  life. 

Unlike  the  orchard,  the  dairy  is  not  likely  to  be 
overdone.  Unlike  the  orchard  also,  the  dairy  is  profit- 
able in  proportion  as  it  is  near  a  profitable  market. 
Fruit  can  be  more  safely  transported  over  long  dis- 
tances than  milk.  To  the  near  market  fresh  milk  and 
cream  can  be  sold.  For  the  distant  market  butter  and 
cheese  are  the  merchantable  products.  The  same  note 
of  warning,  however,  must  bo  sounded  in  respect  to 


40  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

the  dairy  that  has  been  voiced  in  regard  to  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  orcharding.  Success  is  by  no  means  assured, 
except  when  rigid  principles  of  economy  and  efficiency 
are  adopted  and  followed.  Personal  attention,  per- 
sonal labor  and  personal  pride  and  pleasure,  are  im- 
portant factors  in  the  problem.  The  man  who  does  not 
love  the  cow  has  no  business  with  a  dairy,  any  more  than 
a  man  who  does  not  love  a  tree  has  with  an  orchard. 


THE    CRADLE    HAS    REVOLUTIONIZED    THE    WHEAT    INDUSTRY 


WHAT    WOULD    YOU    THINK    OK    THE    PARKER    TO-DAY     WHO     WOULD     BUY 
A    CRADLE    FOR    HIS    WHEAT    CUTTING? 


VI 


THREE  years  ago  I  was  invited  to  address  the  State 
Dairymen's  Association  of  Vermont,  at  Burling- 
ton. I  had  had  opportunities  of  seeing  some  of  the 
Vermont  farmers'  houses  and  also  the  Vermont  dairy 
barns.  I  had  been  struck  with  the  fact  that  more  at- 
tention, in  some  cases,  was  paid  to  the  comfort  and  con- 
venience of  the  dairy  cows  than  to  the  comfort  and 
convenience  of  the  farmer's  wife  and  daughter.  It 
was  a  large,  intelligent  and  fine-looking  audience  that 
I  faced  on  that  cold  day  of  January,  with  the  thermom- 
eter many  degrees  below  zero.  I  thought  this  was  an 
opportunity  to  say  a  word  in  favor  of  the  farmer's 
wife,  and  I  began  my  address  with  the  following  ques- 
tion :  "  Why  is  it  that  so  many  Vermont  dairymen 
pay  more  attention  to  their  cows  than  they  do  to  their 
wives  ?  "  No  one  answered  the  question,  and  yet  many 
of  them  could  have  done  so.  Soon  thereafter  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  the  wife  of  a  Vermont  dairyman 
thanking  me  for  getting  at  the  crux  of  the  dairy  ques- 
tion. 

Being  in  the  dairy  business  myself  in  a  small  way, 
I  fully  appreciate  the  necessity  of  care  for  the  cow.  I 
have  spent  a  good  deal  of  money  in  getting  concrete 
floors  and  steel  stanchions,  where  cows  can  be  kept  in 
a  cleanly  and  sanitary  manner.  I  take  pride  in  seeing 
my  cows  clean,  well  fed,  and  protected  from  the  in- 

41 


42  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

clemency  of  the  weather.  I  have  no  word,  therefore, 
to  say  in  opposition  to  the  proper  care  of  the  cow.  As 
is  so  often  the  case,  however,  in  business,  the  quest 
of  the  almighty  dollar  blinds  one  to  the  amenities  of 
life.  The  farmer's  wife  and  daughter  should  also  be 
cared  for.  When  I  purchased  the  old  colonial  stone 
house  in  Loudoun  County,  Virginia,  I  found  neither 
in  the  house  nor  on  the  farm  any  sanitary  convenience 
for  man  or  beast.  I  thought  my  first  duty  was  to  my 
family,  and  before  beginning  my  dairy  barn,  I  installed 
a  complete  hot  and  cold  water  service  in  the  old  resi- 
dence. A  small  bedroom  was  converted  into  a  bath- 
room and  closet  and  hot  and  cold  water  were  made  to 
circulate  through  the  old  rooms  before  the  foundations 
of  the  dairy  barn  were  laid.  In  so  far  as  I  know,  at 
that  time  there  was  not  a  farmer's  house  in  my  immedi- 
ate vicinity  which  was  provided  with  modern,  ordinary, 
sanitary  appliances.  The  object  lesson,  however,  was 
not  lost,  and  many  of  my  neighbors  have  not  only  built 
silos  since  I  built  the  first  one  in  the  neighborhood,  but 
also  have  put  modern  sanitary  conveniences  in  their 
houses. 

EVEEY  DAY  AND  ALL  DAY. 

The  farmer's  wife  is  not  supposed  to  occupy  an  en- 
viable position.  Her  working  day  is  quite  as  long  as 
that  of  her  husband,  and  the  husband  has  one  ad- 
vantage, namely,  that  one  day  in  seven  he  rests.  Not 
so  with  his  devoted  spouse !  The  rest-day  is  often  her 
busiest  one,  for  neighbors  may  come  in  to  visit  and  to 
dine.  Thus  her  duties  extend  over  365  days,  or  8,760 
hours,  or  525,600  minutes,  or  31,536,000  seconds  yearly. 
The  farmer's  wife,  therefore,  is  entitled  to  consider- 
ation. She  is  poorly  paid  for  her  services,  for  her  hus- 


THE  FARMER'S  WIFE  VERSUS  THE  DAIRY  COW        43 

band  usually  handles  what  little  money  comes  into  the 
family  coffers.  Too  often  it  is  doled  out  to  his  wife 
in  driblets  wholly  insufficient  for  her  needs.  She  some- 
times is  denied  the  spring  bonnet  and  the  spring  gown, 
so  dear  to  every  woman's  heart.  If  her  husband  asks 
her  to  go  to  church  on  Sunday  she  declines  because  of 
having  nothing  to  wear.  She  very  often  carries  the 
water  from  the  spring.  I  have  repeatedly  seen  her  chop- 
ping her  own  stove  wood.  She  does  the  milking  and 
churning.  She  gathers  the  eggs  and  cares  for  the 
chickens.  She  does  practically  all  the  work  that  is 
done  in  the  garden.  If  there  be  any  flowers  in  the 
yard,  she  plants  them.  If  the  grass  be  ever  cut  in  the 
yard,  she  cuts  it.  A  ministering  angel,  without  vaca- 
tion and  without  surcease  of  effort,  she  is  the  typical 
martyr!  Any  amenity  that  can  be  introduced  into  the 
life  of  the  farmer's  wife  is  worthy  of  the  consideration 
of  every  person  who  has  a  real  interest  in  agriculture. 

ISOLATION    AND   INSANITY. 

I  need  not  go  into  the  further  question,  which  has 
often  been  mo«.*ed,  a?  to  the  increasing  percentage  of 
insanity  among  farmers'  wives.  I  have  not  access  to 
statistics  on  this  most  interesting  theme.  I  can  only 
say  this,  that  if  a  larger  percentage  of  farmers'  wives 
are  not  insane,  it  is  a  matter  of  wonder.  The  life  of 
isolation  which  they  lead,  the  continual  round  of  mo- 
notonous duties  in  which  they  are  engaged,  the  lack  of 
sympathy  and  attention  so  often  manifested  on  the 
part  of  fanner  husbands,  are  all  factors  which  would 
tend  to  derange  a  delicately  poised  mentality. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  old-fashioned  farmer's  wife, — 
and  there  are  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
them  living  to-day, —  has  never  had  the  benefit  of  the 


44  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

advantages  of  oral  hygiene.  She  has  rarely  been  per- 
mitted to  consult  a  competent  dentist.  Among  other 
misfortunes  which  she  has  to  bear,  is  an  early  tooth- 
lessness.  The  agony  which  she  suffers,  the  pain  which 
she  endures,  the  discomfort  which  she  encounters  in 
the  early  decay  of  her  teeth,  and  the  lack  of  surgical 
attention  at  a  proper  time  to  save  them  or  to  remove 
them,  are  parts  of  the  hard  environment  which  sur- 
rounds her. 

In  most  of  the  laws  regulating  labor  the  farmer  and 
his  family  are  not  included.  I  would  be  an  earnest  ad- 
vocate of  a  law  limiting  the  hours  of  labor  of  the  farm- 
er's wife.  I  would  like  to  see  a  system  of  instruc- 
tion, beginning  in  the  agricultural  schools  and  colleges 
and  gradually  spreading  to  the  farm,  which  would  lead 
the  farmer  to  be  more  considerate  of  his  wife.  By 
providing  her  with  the  proper  conveniences  for  do- 
ing her  work,  namely,  a  commodious,  well-ventilated 
kitchen,  with  running  water,  a  proper  sink  in  which 
her  dishes  can  be  washed,  a  laundry  equipped  for  easy 
service,  and  other  conveniences  to  mitigate  the  severity 
of  labor,  which  the  farmer  could  easily  procure  and 
should  procure  first  of  all,  he  would  lessen  her  hours 
of  application  so  that  from  four  to  six  hours  a  day  she 
could  have  at  her  own  disposal.  Likewise  in  the 
spring-house,  the  proper  conveniences  for  keeping  the 
milk,  for  churning,  for  the  easy  application  of  sani- 
tary measures,  would  not  only  make  a  better  product 
for  the  table,  but  would  also  lessen  the  severity  of  the 
labor. 

ONE   DAY   OF   BEST. 

Sunday,  especially,  should  be  made  a  holiday,  and 
cold  meats  should  be  part  of  the  sabbatical  observance. 


THE  FARMER'S  WIFE  VERSUS  THE  DAIRY  COW        45 

The  church  should  not  be  beyond  her  reach.  A  clean 
buggy  from  which  the  dirt  and  mud  are  carefully  kept, 
a  nice  horse  with  well  preserved  harness,  and  a  be- 
coming bonnet  and  gown,  should  be  at  her  disposal  to 
attend  the  church  and  see  the  beauties  of  country  life. 
The  first  duty  of  the  farmer  should  be  to  his  wife  and 
family,  in  the  way  of  making  them  comfortable. 

If  a  system  of  farm  credits  can  be  devised,  among 
other  things  which  should  be  regarded  as  a  legal  ex- 
penditure in  the  borrowing  of  money,  should  be  the 
comfort  and  convenience  of  the  house.  We  are  told 
that  the  chief  danger  to  be  guarded  against  in  rural 
credits  is  to  see  that  the  money  which  is  raised  by  the 
pledging  of  the  farm  property  be  applied  for  farm  pur- 
poses. What  more  worthy  purpose  on  the  farm  could 
be  imagined  than  making  the  home  comfortable !  One 
need  not  wonder  that  the  mother,  engaged  in  the  duties 
which  I  have  described  above,  favors  in  every  possible 
way  for  her  son  a  life  as  far  removed  from  that  which 
she  lives  as  possible.  In  the  future  of  her  daughter 
what  greater  concern  could  she  have  than  to  see  to  it 
that  her  own  life  be  not  duplicated  in  that  of  her  child ! 
Thus  one  of  the  great  incentives  for  the  leaving  of  the 
farm  would  be  removed  if  the  home  could  be  comfort- 
able and  the  labor  of  the  housewife  lessened. 

While  I  favor  all  the  large  measures  which  look  to 
the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  woman  and  her 
participation  in  public  affairs,  while  I  am  an  advocate, 
and  have  been  for  a  third  of  a  century,  of  equal  rights 
before  the  law  for  man  and  wife  in  every  respect,  I  feel 
that  even  a  greater  service  to  humanity  could  be  se- 
cured if  industrial  freedom  and  equality,  as  well  as 
political  freedom  and  equality,  could  be  secured  for  the 
woman  in  the  farmer's  home. 


yn 

THE  ORCHARD  A  RECREATION  AND  SOMETIMES  A 
SOURCE  OF  PROFIT 

EVERY  farmer  worthy  of  the  name  would  have 
about  him  enough  fruit  trees  to  supply  at  least 
the  needs  of  his  family  for  the  year.  It  is  well  known 
that  there  are  many  localities  where  the  character  of 
the  soil  and  the  contour  of  the  surface  are  peculiarly 
favorable  to  orchard  products.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  is  hardly  a  farm  in  the  United  States  which  will 
not  produce  some  kind  of  orchard  fruit  in  sufficient 
abundance  for  family  use.  There  are  vicissitudes  of 
the  weather  which  are  obnoxious  to  all  orchards,  even 
in  the  most  favored  localities,  but  a  fruit  tree  which  is 
properly  cultivated  and  properly  nourished  will  have  a 
power  of  resistance  which  is  quite  phenomenal.  In 
this  respect  the  tree  and  the  human  body  are  quite  alike. 
The  well  nourished  body  is  very  resistant  to  disease. 
The  well  nourished  tree  is  peculiarly  resistant  to  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  environment  to  which  it  is  exposed. 
One  broad  principle  should  be  laid  down  as  the  basis 
of  tree  culture,  namely,  the  tree  should  be  nourished 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  promote  its  vigorous  growth  in 
the  early  part  of  the  season.  Plant  food  and  cultiva- 
tion should  be  so  adjusted  as  to  secure  a  complete  hard- 
ening of  the  new  vegetation  before  the  frosts  of  autumn 
set  in.  It  is  a  mistake  to  manure  a  fruit  tree  and 
cultivate  it  and  water  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  have 
it  still  green  and  growing  when  winter  approaches. 

46 


THE  ORCHARD  A  RECREATION  AND  A  PROFIT       47 
COMMON   NEGLECT    OF   THE   HOME   ORCHARD. 

I  am  well  within  the  bounds  of  truth,  perhaps,  when 
I  say  that  the  manuring  of  an  orchard  tree  is  an  un- 
usual activity  of  an  ordinary  farmer.  Too  often  the 
orchard  is  planted  on  a  hillside  unsuited  for  cultivation, 
and  the  trees  are  allowed  to  grow  au  naturelle  from  the 
time  of  planting  until  their  final  decay.  I  have  been 
through  orchard  after  orchard  on  many  farms  where 
the  trees  are  kept  only  for  home  use,  in  which  I  found 
neither  cultivation,  fertilization,  pruning  nor  spraying. 
The  tree  is  left  absolutely  to  grow  wild  and  abandoned 
to  its  own  whims.  Such  fruit  trees  as  these  are  un- 
profitable. They  usually  simply  take  up  space  and 
yield  no  crop.  In  many  cases,  however,  these  trees 
yield  moderate  crops.  I  gathered  from  one  of  them  an 
apple  fifteen  inches  in  circumference  and  weighing  one 
pound  and  a  half. 

If,  however,  the  tree  is  of  good  variety,  it  is  not 
advisable  to  cut  it  down,  even  if  it  be  many  years  of 
age.  The  sharp  pruning  hook  in  a  skilled  hand  in  a 
few  years  will  change  this  savage  tree  into  a  civilized 
product.  It  will  look  as  different  as  a  man  whose  hair 
and  beard  have  not  been  cut  for  years  who  submits  him- 
self to  the  skill  of  the  tonsorial  artist.  Proper  cultiva- 
tion and  the  application  of  food  will  do  the  rest,  and 
out  of  the  abandoned  old  orchard  a  new  and  vigorous 
orchard  is  easily  produced. 

CULTIVATION    OF   THE   LOVE    OF   THE    BEAUTIFUL. 

There  is  another  most  excellent  reason  why  the  small 
farmer  should  have  a  few  trees  of  his  own.  To  care 
for  a  tree  is  in  itself  a  higher  education.  It  appeals 
not  only  to  the  intellectual  faculties  and  to  the  skill  of 


48  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

the  forester,  but  it  makes  a  still  higher  appeal,  namely, 
to  his  esthetic  faculties.  There  is  nothing  more  beauti- 
ful than  the  bloom  of  the  fruit  tree,  unless  it  be  its 
ripened  fruit.  A  well  kept  fruit  tree  near  the  house 
will  be  a  strong  factor  in  the  ethical  and  esthetical  edu- 
cation of  the  child.  Whitcomb  Kiley's  experience  in 
the  apple  orchard  might  be  easily  that  of  every  farmer, 
farmer's  wife  and  farmer's  child.  It  is  not  alone  the 
poet  who  can  be  "  knee-deep  in  June." 

Orchard  's  where  I  'd  ruther  be  — 
Need  n't  fence  it  in  f er  me !  — 

Jes  the  whole  sky  overhead, 
And  the  whole  airth  underneath  — 
Sorto'  so 's  a  man  kin  breathe 

Like  he  ort,  and  kindo'  has 
Elbow  room  to  keerlessly 

Sprawl  out  len'thways  on  the  grass 
Where  the  shadder's  thick  and  soft 

As  the  kiwers  on  the  bed 
Mother  fixes  in  the  loft 

Allus,  when  they 's  company ! 

I  do  not  know  of  any  labor  on  the  farm  which  is 
possible  of  being  made  more  productive  of  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  finer  feelings  of  the  laborer  than  that  which 
is  devoted  to  the  care  of  a  tree,  and  especially  a  fruit 
tree. 

THE   ORCHARD   A    HELP    TO    HEALTH. 

There  is  still  another  valuable  point  of  view  in  favor 
of  the  maintenance  of  a  small  farm  orchard,  namely,  its 
relations  to  health.  Although  raw  fruits  are  unsuitable 
for  the'  early  ages  of  life,  they  become  very  valuable 
for  children  over  five  years  of  age  and  from  that  on  to 
the  end  of  life.  The  judicious  admixture  of  fruits 
with  the  daily  diet  cannot  fail  to  have,  in  practically 


Ct'T    CLOVEU     WITH    A    SCYTIIK    INSTEAD    OK    A    MOWER 


MII.K    MAUVK.STKH    AM)    TIIKASIIKK 


THE  ORCHARD  A  RECREATION  AND  A  PROFIT   49 

all  cases,  a  beneficial  effect  upon  health,  while  at  the 
same  time  it  administers  to  a  praiseworthy  taste.  The 
various  physiological  and  nutritional  aspects  of  fruit 
are  hardly  to  be  discussed  at  the  present  time.  As  an 
article  of  diet  alone  fruits  are  unbalanced,  that  is,  they 
do  not  afford  all  the  elements  of  nutrition  in  the  proper 
proportion.  They  are  particularly  deficient  in  the  ele- 
ments which  restore  the  waste  and  build  the  new  tissues 
of  the  muscles  and  other  nitrogenous  portions  of  the 
body.  They  are  rich  in  carbohydrates  and  organic 
acids,  important  food  products  having  most  intimate 
relations  to  health.  The  acid  of  the  apple  and  other 
fruits  of  that  kind  is  malic.  The  acid  of  the  orange 
and  other  citrus  fruits  is  citric;  while  the  acid  of 
grapes  is  tartaric.  All  of  these  acids  in  their  natural 
habitat  are  capable  of  being  burned  in  the  body  and 
yielding  energy,  and  finally  producing  carbon  dioxid, 
which,  uniting  with  the  bases  of  the  foods,  produces  the 
carbonates  and  bicarbonates  so  essential  to  the  proper 
maintenance  of  the  alkalinity  of  the  small  intestine  and 
of  the  blood.  Fruits,  therefore,  become  a  powerful 
safeguard  against  the  evils  of  acid  intoxication.  Thus 
it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  farmer,  in  his  relations  to 
the  health  of  his  family,  to  supply  a  sufficient  amount 
of  fruit  for  the  necessities  and  needs  of  the  year. 

It  is  far  better,  also,  that  he  produce  them  himself 
and  thus  gfet  the  benefit  which  the  care  of  the  orchard 
confers,  rather  than  to  spend  his  hard  earned  money 
in  buying  fruits  of  his  neighbor.  The  orchard  on  the 
farm,  even  if  not  a  single  bushel  of  fruit  is  sold,  be- 
comes a  source  of  profit  in  the  supplying  of  a  highly 
wholesome  and  in  many  respects  indispensable  diet. 

I  have  already  told  of  the  dangers  which  attend 
the  efforts  of  the  unskilled  to  engage  in  fruit  grow- 


60  THE  LUKE  OF  THE  LAND 

ing  on  a  commercial  scale.  It  is  easily  seen  that  if 
everybody  should  go  into  fruit  growing,  the  market 
would  soon  be  overstocked ;  not  only  this,  but  also  over- 
stocked with  a  perishable  article.  For  this  reason  com- 
mercial fruit  growing  should  be  confined  especially  to 
the  favorable  localities  which  nature  has  provided  and 
which  the  experience  of  man  has  discovered.  On  the 
level  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Nebraska  it  would  be  pos- 
sible to  establish  great  orchards,  where  large  crops  of 
fruit  could  be  produced;  but  to  use  land  of  this  kind, 
so  particularly  fitted  by  nature  for  the  culture  of  the 
cereal  crops,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  fruit 
supply,  would  be  most  unfortunate  both  from  the  pro- 
gressive and  the  monetary  point  of  view.  This,  how- 
ever, has  no  bearing  at  all  on  the  main  question,  namely, 
the  keeping  of  a  few  fruit  trees  about  every  farmer's 
house  in  the  country. 

A    TEW    FRUIT    TREES    WELL    KEPT. 

To  bring  about  this  desirable  event,  persistent  and 
continuous  education  and  experiment  must  be  used.  It 
is  not  difficult  to  get  the  farmer  to  plant  trees  —  that 
is  easy;  the  difficult  thing  is  to  get  him  to  plant  the 
right  kind  and  to  care  for  them.  On  the  farm  my  ex- 
perience has  shown  me  that  everything  is  sacrificed 
to  the  standard  crops.  Even  the  farmer's  garden, 
where  his  wife  is  not  able  to  do  all  the  hoeing,  runs  to 
weeds  during  the  season  of  harvest.  To  secure  a  proper 
orchard,  even  of  a  few  trees,  the  farmer  must  make  up 
his  mind  that  the  attention  to  be  given  it  must  be  given 
it  promptly.  Even  if  there  be  no  more  than  twenty-five 
trees  in  the  orchard,  the  necessity  for  pruning  and 
spraying  and  cultivating  and  fertilizing  is  just  as  great 
as  if  there  were  twenty-five  thousand. 


THE  ORCHARD  A  RECREATION  AND  A  PROFIT       51 

How  easy  it  is  for  the  farmer  to  pass  by  his  apple 
tree  before  the  leaf  bud  is  put  out,  and  thus  abandon 
it  to  the  ravages  of  the  San  Jose  scale.  The  spray  of 
the  lime  sulphur  solution  before  the  leaf  or  bud  begins 
to  unfold  is  a  necessary  precaution  to  avoid  the  depre- 
dations of  this  almost  universal  pest.  Then  when  the 
bloom  comes  on  the  apple  or  peach  tree  the  farmer  is 
busy  with  his  corn  and  clover.  He  cannot  take  the 
time  to  spray  against  the  insect  and  the  fungus.  His 
Bordeaux  mixture  is  un-made  or  un-sprayed.  He  has 
not  prepared  any  lime  sulphur  with  a  little  arsenic  in 
it  to  take  its  place.  He  has  no  machine,  big  or  little, 
for  applying  the  spray.  The  result  is  neglect  and  a  har- 
vest of  knotted,  insect-stung,  incipiently  decayed  fruit. 

All  of  this  is  easily  avoided  if  the  spraying  is  at- 
tended to  in  time.  The  farmer  would  be  surprised  to 
know  what  a  wealth  of  fruit  he  could  produce  from  a 
few  well  selected  trees  if  he  only  would  attend  to  them 
when  attention  is  demanded.  The  fruit  tree  is  one 
thing  which  will  not  brook  neglect.  It  will  not  wait 
on  man,  nor  time,  nor  tide.  It  must  have  its  needs 
supplied  when  it  needs  them. 

It  cannot  fail  to  be  a  rare  pleasure  to  the  farmer  who 
has  properly  cared  for  his  tree,  to  stand  by  it  in  Sep- 
tember when  its  fruit  begins  to  redden  and  the  glory 
of  the  harvest  is  at  its  zenith,  and  gaze  upon  the  well 
pruned,  the  well  "cultivated  tree,  with  its  bending 
branches  of  ripening  fruit.  One  such  view  as  this, 
properly  appreciated,  more  than  pays  for  all  the  care 
and  trouble  given  to  the  tree  during  its  growing  season. 

DANGER   OF   OVER-PRODUCTION. 

That  there  is  some  danger  of  over-production  of 
apples  unless  the  rate  of  consumption  can  be  increased 


52  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

is  well  set  forth  by  Mr.  C.  J.  Tyson,  President  of  the 
State  Horticultural  Association  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
says: 

(The  Apple  World,  June,  1914.) 

Hardly  a  week  goes  by  but  we  read  or  hear  of  some  one  who 
tells  us  that  too  many  apple  trees  are  being  planted,  and  that 
very  soon  apples  will  sell  only  at  a  loss,  and  the  whole  busi- 
ness will  go  to  the  dogs. 

Of  course,  we  put  up  a  good  bluff  and  call  these  folks 
"  calamity  howlers  "  and  "  pessimists,"  but  down  in  our  hearts 
we  know  there  is  a  lot  of  truth  in  what  they  say.  Trees  by  the 
million  have  been  and  are  being  planted.  Hundreds  of  thou- 
sands are  coming  to  bearing  age  each  year,  and  this  number 
will  increase  tremendously  in  the  next  five  years. 

Each  season  for  several  years  past  nature  has  so  planned 
that  calamity  of  some  kind,  either  frost,  severe  storm  or 
drouth,  has  visited  several  of  the  important  apple  growing 
sections,  and  the  crop  has  been  cut  down.  This  condition 
may  not  continue;  even  the  coming  season  may  see  a  "bum- 
per crop  "  throughout  the  whole  country,  then  "  what  will  be- 
come of  the  apples?" 

It  sounds  bad,  but  it  is  not  hopeless.  Here  is  the  solution. 
Only  a  very  small  part  of  the  population  of  our  country  is 
eating  apples.  There  are  actually  millions  in  our  cities  and 
towns  who  do  not  have  the  "  apple  habit " ;  who  do  not  know 
about  apples.  It  is  our  duty,  and  should  be  our  business,  to 
let  them  know.  Some  experiments  in  advertising  have  already 
proven  that  a  little  publicity  can  greatly  increase  apple  con- 
sumption. Proper  advertising  will  increase  the  consumption 
of  anything,  and  if  the  article  has  merit  and  the  advertising 
is  judicious,  it  will  pay,  and  pay  handsomely. 


VIII 

HEALTH  ON  THE  FARM 

r  I  MLtt  farmer  should  live  longer  than  the  urbanite. 
JL  Does  he  ?  The  answer  appears  to  be  negative  in 
the  case  of  some  diseases.  The  farmer  lives  in  the 
open  at  least  by  day,  should  have  access  to  fresh  and 
wholesome  food  and  as  a  rule  is  not  worried  by  cares 
of  business.  Therefore,  he  should  live  longer  than  his 
city  cousin. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  farmer  sleeps  in  poorly  venti- 
lated rooms,  especially  in  winter,  his  food  is  often 
largely  composed  of  products  he  cannot  sell.  The 
choice  bits  of  the  farm's  products  go  to  the  city.  The 
farmer  too  often  keeps  for  himself  the  specked  apples 
and  small  or  injured  potatoes.  He  is  exposed  to  vio- 
lent extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  He  shivers  with  cold 
and  is  half  baked  before  his  open  fireplace  half  a  dozen 
times  a  day.  In  hot  weather  he  works  at  planting  or 
in  the  harvest  field  twelve  to  fourteen  hours  a  day.  He 
eats  hurriedly  and  does  not  as  a  rule  get  sufficient  rest. 
He  is  peculiarly  prone  to  have  typhoid  fever,  pneu- 
monia and  influenza.  The  cooking  in  his  home  is  too 
often  of  the  greasy  kind.  He  has  "  hot  biscuits  "  once 
and  often  three  times  a  day.  His  meats  in  winter  are 
usually  home  cured,  and,  therefore,  subject  to  all  the 
disasters  that  follow  unskilled  handling.  I  think  I 
may  say  without  transgressing  the  truth,  that  the  far- 
mer has  far  poorer  sanitary  surroundings  than  the  city 

man.     The  farm  springs  or  wells  are  likely  to  be  pol- 

53 


54  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

luted  with  the  excrement  of  man  and  beast.  The  milk 
which  forms  so  large  a  part  of  the  food  of  the  young 
rarely  comes  from  a  tuberculin  tested  cow.  There  is 
no  competent  inspection  of  the  meat-food  animals 
slaughtered  for  home  use.  In  fact  the  farmers  of  this 
country  have  put  too  much  thought  on  the  barn,  the  pig 
pen  and  the  dairy.  They  have  reserved  none  of  them 
for  such  puerile  problems  as  home  and  barn  sanitation. 
!No  wonder  then  that  so  few  centenarians  are  found 
among  our  rural  people.  At  best  the  average  length  of 
human  life  in  the  United  States  is  only  forty-four  years 
and  the  members  of  the  farmers'  families  are  not  doing 
much  to  make  it  longer. 

DISEASES   THAT   THRIVE:  IN   THE   COUNTRY. 

There  are  certain  diseases  which  seem  to  be  peculiarly 
attracted  to  rural  districts. 

Statistics  as  to  the  causes  of  the  excessive  mortality 
in  the  country  are  not  sufficiently  reliable  to  draw  any 
general  conclusions.  There  are  some  diseases  on  the 
other  hand  which  appear  to  be  more  frequent  in  the 
city  than  in  the  country,  but  the  extent  of  complete  reg- 
istration is  not  sufficiently  general  to  warrant  any 
definite  conclusions  except  from  the  states  of  Califor- 
nia, Colorado,  Connecticut,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Mary- 
land, Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota  and  Mis- 
souri. For  instance,  organic  diseases  of  the  heart  are 
more  common  in  some  states  in  the  city  than  in  the 
country.  This  is  true  of  California  and  Colorado, 
while  in  Connecticut  organic  diseases  of  the  heart  are 
more  common  in  rural  districts.  In  Indiana  they  are 
about  the  same.  In  Kentucky  the  organic  disease  of 
the  heart  is  more  common  in  the  city,  both  among  the 
white  and  the  colored  population.  In  Maryland  the 


HEALTH  ON  THE  FARM 


65 


same  ratio  prevails  both  among  the  white  and  colored 
population.  In  Massachusetts,  however,  organic  dis- 
eases of  the  heart  are  more  common  in  the  rural  popu- 
lation. The  same  is  true  in  Michigan  and  Minnesota, 
while  in  Missouri  the  opposite  condition  obtains.  Thus 
from  a  general  survey  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  not 
much  difference  in  the  frequency  of  death  from  organic 
diseases  of  the  heart  per  100,000  people  in  the  country 
or  in  the  city. 

While  the  data  are  not  at  all  complete  and  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  not  conclusive,  it  seems  almost  certain  that 
among  the  diseases  mentioned  below  mortality  is 
greater  in  the  country  than  in  the  city.  It  will  be  of 
interest  in  the  future  to  have  a  more  careful  study  of 
this  point.  In  order  that  some  of  these  comparative 
data  may  be  more  easily  illustrated  they  are  presented 
below  in  tabular  form. 

DEATH  RATES  PER  100,000  POPULATION  IN  CITIES 
AND  RURAL  DISTRICTS 


Disease 

State 

Rural 

City 

Typhoid   

Colorado    

37  0 

19.1 

m 

Maryland   .  . 

437 

30  6 

H 

Kentucky   

490 

340 

Influenza        

Minnesota 

104 

4  3 

« 

Michigan   .  . 

248 

77 

« 

Connecticut 

31  4 

19  8 

«« 

Indiana 

21.2 

120 

H 

Maine 

287 

13  6 

Apoplexy   

Connecticut      .  .    .. 

131.2 

908 

Mental    alienation  

California    

5.1 

1.5 

« 

Colorado 

4.0 

2.3 

Cancer  —  Skin    

Connecticut        .... 

4.1 

2.1 

These  facts  must  be  kept  in  mind  when  we  speak, 
as  we  generally  do,  of  the  country  life  as  being  con- 


56  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

ducive  to  health  and  longevity.  Evidently  this  is  not 
always  the  case  at  the  present  time.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is,  I  think,  capable  of  demonstration  that  when 
a  perfect  sanitation  of  the  country  is  secured,  as  will 
necessarily  be  the  case  in  the  near  future,  and  when 
proper  attention  is  given  to  the  sanitation  and  ventila- 
tion of  farmers'  houses,  the  death  rate  from  these  dis- 
eases will  certainly  be  less  than  it  is  among  the  urban 
population. 

It  is  worth  while  to  trace  the  causes  which  shorten 
the  farmer's  life  in  greater  detail. 

One  of  the  important  threats  to  the  health  of  the 
farmer  is  his  exposure  to  extremes  of  weather.  When 
the  temperature  is  far  below  zero  he  must  go  about  his 
work.  The  stock  must  be  fed  and  watered,  the  fuel 
brought  in  and  errands  must  be  run  to  the  town.  If  he 
be  in  the  dairy  business  he  must  rise  hours  Before  the 
dawn  and  drive  many  miles  through  snow  and  wind  to 
the  depot.  In  like  manner  he  is  exposed  to  rain  and 
storm.  While  hot  from  working  in  the  field  a  sudden 
shower  accompanied  by  hail  may  chill  him  to  the  bone. 
Drenched  with  rain,  far  from  home,  it  may  be  hours 
before  he  can  change  his  clothes.  During  seeding  and 
harvest  his  day's  work  extends  to  fourteen  hours  and  his 
short  sleep  does  not  give  nature  a  chance  to  restore  his 
wasted  tissue  and  remove  fatigue.  His  bathing  facili- 
ties are  either  nil  or  restricted  to  a  wash  bowl  or  tub. 
The  old-fashioned  farmer's  life, —  and  the  new  fashion 
in  too  many  instances  is  no  better, —  affords  abundant 
opportunities  to  weaken  vitality  and  strike  at  the  citadel 
of  health.  Those  diseases  which  overexertion  and  un- 
due exposure  help  along,  such  as  rheumatism  and 
pneumonia,  are  very  common  among  the  hard-working 
farmers  and  their  wives.  Overstrain,  long  hours  of 


HEALTH  ON  THE  FARM  67 

labor,  and  exposure  to  the  vicissitudes  of  weather  favor 
also  the  lodgment  of  the  germ  of  tuberculosis  in  the 
lungs  or  other  parts  of  the  body  and  encourage  its  speedy 
and  vigorous  growth.  The  poorly  ventilated  sleeping- 
rooms  of  the  winter  add  a  contribution  to  the  breaking 
down  of  the  farmer's  health.  The  cooking  in  many 
farm  houses  is  far  from  the  best  and  this  adds  to  the 
tendency  to  acquire  disease.  The  soggy  bread,  made 
quickly  from  baking  powder,  in  which  the  starch  has 
been  only  lightly  changed,  helps  to  increase  dyspepsia 
and  its  attendant  evils.  Denied  the  privileges  of  the 
bathroom  and  toilet,  he  does  not  give  proper  attention 
to  the  insistent  needs  of  promptly  disposing  of  the 
wastes  of  the  body. 

The  general  disregard  of  the  requirements  of  good 
sanitation  often  leads  to  an  infected  water  supply.  The 
spring  is  contaminated  with  the  offal  of  pigs  and  chick- 
ens. The  well  is  polluted  with  surface  drainage  and 
the  cistern  is  foul  with  the  debris  of  the  roof.  These 
are  the  shadows  which  rest  upon  the  neglected  farm 
house,  the  cabin  of  the  tenant  and  the  shack  of  the 
laborer.  In  the  city  the  health  officer  looks  after  the 
water  and  food  supply,  certifies  the  milk  and  sees  that 
the  garbage  and  ash  man  attend  to  the  back  yard.  The 
man  with  typhoid  and  the  child  with  measles  are  segre- 
gated. The  dictates  of  sound  sanitation  are  heeded. 
The  water  is  freed  from  typhoid  germs  by  sand  filtra- 
tion. The  people  are  instructed  respecting  the  venti- 
lation of  the  sleeping  rooms.  Reasonably  effective  safe- 
guards protect  the  citizen  from  wandering  diseases  or 
local  epidemics.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  many  coun- 
try homes  are  properly  safeguarded.  It  is  likewise 
true  that  many  cities  are  poorly  protected.  I  have 
pictured  only  types  which  are  commonly  met.  No 


58  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

wonder,  therefore,  that  the  fanner  breaks  down  long  be- 
fore his  time.  He  is  shaggy  and  gray  at  forty,  shriv- 
eled and  wrinkled  at  fifty,  stooped  and  trembling  at 
sixty,  he  has  gone  to  his  eternal  rest  at  seventy. 

But  there  is  a  bright  side  to  the  picture. 

The  farmer  of  the  future  will  be  the  youngest  man 
of  his  years  in  the  whole  community.  His  step  will  be 
resilient,  his  eyes  bright  and  his  joints  flexible  at  an 
age  when  he  now  is  old.  From  the  very  nature  of 
things  the  man  on  the  farm  in  the  future  should  be  the 
healthiest  of  all  human  animals.  He  will  have  access 
to  pure,  fresh,  wholesome  foods,  which  may  be  easily 
well  cooked.  His  hours  of  labor  will  be  shortened,  yet 
made  more  efficient.  His  life  in  the  open  will  give 
vigor,  endurance,  and  power  to  resist  infection.  He  is 
not  likely  to  be  tempted  to  indulge  in  alcoholic  liquors. 
He  will  learn  in  the  near  future  that  the  use  of  tobacco 
is  wholly  unnecessary,  filthy,  and  reprehensible.  He 
lives  nearer  to  nature  than  any  other  person  and  ought 
to  love  nature  better  than  any  one  else.  Some  day  he 
will  have  pure,  clean  water,  free  from  sewage  or  surface 
infection,  to  drink.  He  will  go  to  bed  early  and  rise 
at  daylight.  He  will  see  the  sun  rise  as  well  as  set. 
His  exercise  will  develop  the  physical  man  symmetric- 
ally and  thus  give  a  healthy  dwelling  for  a  healthy  mind. 
Some  day  he  will  be  wise  enough  to  lose  faith  in  quacks 
and  nostrums,  advertised  in  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines. The  "  Reuben  "  of  the  hoary  "  gold  brick  " 
trick  will  "  get  wise  "  also  to  these  vicious  attempts  to 
utilize  his  gullibility  in  respect  of  alleged  cures.  The 
itinerant  peddlers  of  nostrums,  cocaine  and  consump- 
tion cures  will  discover  a  falling  market  and  a  better  in- 
formed customer.  It  is  pathetic  to  think  of  the  sick- 
ness, suffering  and  death  in  rural  districts  that  have 


HEALTH  ON  THE  FARM  59 

come  from  a  fatuous  reliance  on  so-called  patent  medi- 
cines. It  is  true  the  country  doctor  is  not  a  specialist, 
but  he  is  a  mentor,  a  guide  and  a  healer  of  greater  skill 
than  many  a  city  physician.  He  is  trustworthy  and 
effective  in  all  ordinary  diseases.  He  knows  also  where 
to  send  his  patient  for  removal  of  the  appendix  or  any 
capital  operation  involving  a  vital  organ.  The  farmer 
is  not  without  the  means  of  good  medical  service  when 
he  needs  it,  but  even  in  the  case  of  a  devoted  family  he 
misses  the  helpful  ministration  of  the  trained  nurse. 

While  certain  diseases  thus  show  a  greater  frequency 
in  some  of  the  states  in  rural  communities,  upon  the 
whole  the  death  rate  from  all  causes  is  lower  in  the  coun- 
try than  in  the  city  in  all  the  states  reported  by  the  cen- 
sus except  in  Xew  York. 

The  children  on  the  farm  are  better  nourished  as  a 
rule  than  city  children.  They  have  more  "  whole 
foods  "  from  which  the  tissue  building  materials  have 
not  been  all  removed.  They  have  whole  cereal  products 
which  nourish  especially  the  bones  and  the  teeth.  They 
have  at  least  plenty  of  skim  milk  containing  practically 
all  the  tissue  building  materials  of  the  body.  They 
have  fruits  and  vegetables  which  have  not  been  dena- 
tured in  preparing  them  for  the  table.  They  live 
largely  out  of  doors  and  go  barefoot  and  plunge  daily 
into  the  "  old  swimmin'  hole." 

The  child  in  the  country  is  at  a  greater  disadvantage 
than  his  father,  if  he  falls  ill.  The  country  doctor  is 
certainly  not  a  specialist  in  children's  diseases.  But  a 
consulting  podiatrist  may  be  easily  called  from  the  city 
in  emergencies.  The  country  boy  at  least  has  good 
teeth  if  he  be  taught  the  use  of  the  brush.  By  reason 
of  the  lime  and  phosphorus  he  has  eaten,  he  is  blessed 
with  strong,  hard,  resistant  teeth,  which  with  cleanliness 


60  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

and  care  may  well  abide  with  him  during  his  threescore 
years  and  twenty. 

The  farmer's  girl  is  not  so  fortunately  situated  as  the 
farmer's  boy.  Through  false  and  sometimes  fatal  mod- 
esty on  the  part  of  her  mother,  she  grows  to  puberty 
utterly  ignorant  of  her  real  nature.  Alas !  too  often  a 
chronic  invalidism  is  the  price  of  such  criminal  negli- 
gence. 

The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  every  farm  will  be 
subjected  to  rigid  sanitary  provisions,  such  as  are  found 
in  the  best  of  our  cities.  The  police  powers  of  the 
State,  in  so  far  as  sanitation  is  concerned,  will  be  ex- 
tended beyond  the  cities  and  into  the  rural  communi- 
ties. 

The  sick-bed  of  the  country  home  will  be  guarded  by 
the  same  precautions  for  the  protection  of  the  well,  as 
are  now  found  in  the  hospital  and  the  well  conducted 
city  residence. 

Taking  all  the  favorable  and  unfavorable  points  to- 
gether it  may  confidently  be  predicted  that  the  average 
life  of  those  who  live  in  the  country  will  soon  greatly 
exceed  that  of  any  urban  population.  I  urge  the 
farmers  of  this  country  to  give  heed  to  the  problems  of 
sanitation  outlined  above.  Do  not  buy  a  motor  car 
until  all  your  houses  are  clean  and  well  ventilated. 
Provide  a  place  for  your  children  to  have  their  daily 
bath.  Put  hot  and  cold  water  with  bath  and  toilet  in 
your  home,  provide  a  septic  tank  to  dispose  of  the 
wastes  of  the  house  so  no  danger  of  infection  may  occur. 
Your  life,  that  is,  your  health,  is  your  greatest  wealth. 
Don't  scatter  it  like  a  spendthrift  to  the  four  winds  of 
ignorance,  infection,  bad  food  and  bad  cooking. 


IX 

FARM  LABOR 

THE  great  problem  of  farm  life  is  not  agricultural 
credits  nor  rural  banks,  nor  yet  free  markets  and 
capacious  warehouses,  but  something  that  goes  before 
and  ahead  of  all  these,  namely,  the  work  on  the  farm. 
It  is  indeed  a  small  place  that  the  farmer  by  himself 
can  till. 

In  spite  of  the  rapid  strides  of  women  towards  equal 
rights  with  men,  there  is  a  natural  ineptitude  in  the 
sex  to  farm  work,  which  will  practically  reserve  that 
kind  of  labor  for  the  male  sex.  It  is  true  that  in  the 
very  populous  regions  of  the  Old  World  the  women  do 
a  large  share  of  the  farm  work.  It  may  likewise  be 
true,  as  claimed  by  many  students  of  evolution,  that 
among  primitive  peoples  the  women  practically  did  all 
the  work,  while  the  men  did  the  fighting  and  the  hunt- 
ing and  the  loafing.  I  believe  this  condition  is  true 
yet  in  many  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  this  country. 
Woman,  in  assuming  again  her  position  in  the  indus- 
trial world,  will  hardly  care  to  press  her  claims  to  the 
extent  of  becoming  the  dominant  factor  in  farm  labor. 
While  I  claim  to  be  a  progressive  of  the  most  pro- 
nounced type,  and  especially  have  been  for  forty  years 
an  advocate  for  equal  rights  of  men  and  women  at  the 
ballot  box,  I  still  confess  to  a  slight  prejudice  in  favor 
of  men  doing  the  farm  work.  I  have  not  been  impressed 

with  the  conditions  of  life  which  I  myself  have  seen  in 

61 


62  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

older  countries,  where  •women  are  mingled  with  men 
in  the  fields  and  hitched  with  dogs  to  the  carts. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  advocate  a  condition  of  affairs 
in  which  one  sex  lives  in  idleness.  There  is  plenty 
indeed  for  women  to  do,  and  the  idle  woman,  like  the 
idle  man,  is  a  constant  threat  to  society.  But  the 
farmer's  wife  and  the  farmer's  daughter  in  my  opinion 
cannot  be  justly  expected  to  join  him  in  the  work  of 
the  fields.  He  may  have  sons  who,  after  the  age  of 
ten,  would  be  of  some  use  on  holidays  and  vacations, 
and  after  they  are  eighteen  may  give  him  three  years 
of  full  handed  labor.  The  boy,  however,  soon  becomes 
a  man  in  his  own  rights,  and  the  farmer  who  depends 
upon  the  labor  of  his  sons  alone,  will  in  due  course 
come  to  the  limit  of  his  tether.  Just  as  the  manufac- 
turer cannot  do  all  of  the  manual  work  of  the  factory, 
so  the  farmer  who  possesses  from  one  hundred  to  one 
thousand  acres  can  do  only  a  tithe  of  the  work  on  the 
farm. 

LABOR   FUNDAMENTAL. 

The  question  of  labor  is  fundamental.  The  one 
striking  fault  of  agricultural  education  at  the  present 
time  is  its  failure  to  train  agricultural  laborers.  There 
should  be  instruction  in  the  country  schools  and  the 
city  schools  of  a  theoretical  and  practical  nature  in 
farm  labor.  The  idea  has  grown  abroad  that  farm 
labor  is  unskilled  labor,  and  unfortunately  to  a  large 
extent  this  is  true.  Going  into  my  corn  field  one  day, 
I  noticed  that  the  cultivators  did  not  seem  to  be  doing 
a  good  piece  of  work.  Upon  examination  I  found  that 
none  of  the  shares  were  scouring.  The  rust  which  had 
come  upon  the  plate  during  a  period  of  rest  was  still 
there,  and  instead  of  the  plowshare  turning  the  dirt 


FARM  LABOR  63 

and  showing  a  sheen  of  silver,  it  was  simply  pushing 
its  way  through  the  soil,  failing  either  to  cover  the 
weeds  by  throwing  the  dirt,  or  to  cut  them  by  the  keen- 
ness of  its  blade.  There  were  three  two-horse  culti- 
vators operating  in  the  field,  and  all  were  in  a  similar 
condition.  Apparently  these  unskilled  laborers  had 
never  been  taught  the  fact  that  good  plowing  is  only 
possible  when  the  plow  scours.  Their  idea  was  to  get 
over  the  ground,  and  not  to  cultivate  the  corn.  With 
the  aid  of  a  jackknife,  in  a  short  time  I  had  all  the 
plowshares  bright  and  all  of  the  plows  doing  excellent 
work. 

Not  one  of  these  men  following  the  plows  had  ever 
had  a  single  word  of  instruction  in  regard  to  the  char- 
acter of  farm  labor.  They  knew  nothing  except  the 
length  of  the  day  and  the  magnitude  of  the  stipend. 
To  them  plowing  was  not  tilling,  but  putting  in  the 
time.  They  were  not  indolent,  they  worked  long 
enough  hours,  but  their  work  was  wholly  inefficient. 
This  is  not  an  extreme  type.  Many  complain  of  the 
indolence  and  laziness  of  farm  laborers.  My  complaint 
is  their  lack  of  knowledge  and  lack  of  spirit.  This 
fact,  I  think,  is  fundamental.  The  laborer  who  is 
doing  a  good  job  takes  a  pride  in  his  work.  If  he  has 
a  good  instrument  which  is  working  well,  his  task  is 
not  wholly  a  burden.  He  sees  in  it  the  soul  of  the 
artist,  and  takes  a  pride  in  perfecting  it. 

These  same  laborers  of  whom'  I  spoke  a  while  ago, 
were  taking  no  care  at  all  in  turning  at  the  end  of  the 
row.  They  allowed  the  horses  to  begin  their  turning 
many  feet  before  the  end  of  the  row  was  reached. 
They  were  plowing  up  and  tramping  down  many  of  the 
young  plants,  so  that  the  end  of  the  field  looked  ragged 
and  disorderly.  I  called  their  attention  to  the  neces- 


64  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

sity  of  driving  straight  out  to  the  end  of  the  row. 
There  was  ample  room  to  turn  after  that.  By  lifting 
the  plow  a  very  little  they  could  start  back  in  a  proper 
position  for  the  next  row.  The  result  was  that  in  less 
than  two  hours,  not  only  was  every  plow  doing  good 
work,  but  every  driver  was  taking  some  pride  in  what 
he  was  doing. 

The  cost  of  labor  to  the  farmer  is  largely  due  to  this 
lack  of  knowledge  and  lack  of  spirit.  How  great  a 
saving  it  would  be  if  each  laborer  had  received  instruc- 
tions in  the  proper  method  of  performing  his  task,  and 
had  been  shown  the  correct  attitude  to  assume  in  rela- 
tion to  it!  I  have  been  surprised  to  see  what  a  trans- 
formation a  few  lessons  in  efficiency  work.  I  have 
seen  a  laborer  with  absolutely  no  interest  in  his  work 
become  enamored  with  it,  proud  of  it,  and  eager  to 
show  the  best  that  he  could  do.  It  is,  I  think,  difficult 
to  find  any  one  so  sodden,  so  devoid  of  ambition,  and 
so  indifferent  as  not  to  be  amenable  to  some  uplift  from 
proper  instruction  both  as  to  method  and  as  to  purpose. 

FARM    LABOR   SHOULD   BE   SKILLED. 

Farm  labor  is  not  unskilled  labor  by  any  means.  It 
is  skilled  labor  of  the  highest  type,  that  is,  it  should  be. 
In  point  of  fact,  however,  it  is  now  unskilled  labor. 
Any  man  who  can  work  is  supposed  to  be  good  enough 
to  work  on  a  farm.  More  skill  is  required  for  farm 
labor  than  in  any  other  industry.  The  laborer,  to  be 
efficient,  must  always  be  industrious  and  alive  to  the 
problem  which  is  presented  to  him,  but  he  must  be,  to  a 
certain  extent,  a  carpenter,  a  blacksmith  and  a  me- 
chanic. The  machinery  of  farm  implements  to-day  is 
a  complicated  study.  Every  man  who  proposes  to  be- 
come a  farm  laborer  should  have  the  rudiments  of  me- 


I'D"-"   by   Harris  &  Kwlng 

THE    SILO    19   A    GRACEFUL   STRUCTURE    AND    ADDS    AN    ELEMENT    OF 

ARCHITECTURAL    BEAUTY    TO    THE    DAIRY    BUILDINGS 

Silo  on  Dr.  Wiley's  f.inn 


Photo  by    Harris  A    Kwlnif 

II   I«. 1. 1.    HY    THE    COW'S    TASTK,    HIUMiK    IS    ALMOST    AN     1IIEAI.    FOOD 
SWIM-  on  I>r.  Wilry'i  farm 


FARM  LABOR  65 

chanics  and  the  care  of  implements  taught  to  him.  He 
thus  takes  a  pride  in  his  machinery. 

Last  autumn  when  it  was  time  to  cut  the  corn,  as  I 
was  going  to  the  field  I  was  amazed  at  discovering  three 
of  my  cultivators  standing  in  the  furrow.  These  were 
one-horse  cultivators  used  for  the  last  cultivation,  when 
it  was  not  possible  to  straddle  the  row.  What  had  hap- 
pened ?  Before  the  cultivation  of  the  field  was  finished 
a  rain  storm  had  come  on,  and  afterwards  the  work 
was  not  resumed.  The  implements  were  left  in  the 
furrow.  Of  course  this  was  contrary  to  instructions, 
and  when  I  inquired  about  it  the  head  farmer  was  as- 
tonished to  think  that  I  made  so  much  objection  to  this 
disreputable  practice.  He  said,  "  It  was  a  custom 
where  I  worked  always  to  leave  the  implements  in  the 
field."  Yes,  that  is  true.  You  can  see  it  yet  all  over 
this  country,  agricultural  implements  left  exposed  to 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  season  simply  because  the  men 
who  use  them  have  never  been  taught  how  to  care  for 
them.  Not  only  do  I  require  all  my  agricultural  im- 
plements to  be  put  under  shelter,  but  further  than  this, 
that  they  shall  be  cleaned  and  dusted  before  they  are 
put  away.  Moreover,  the  machines  which  are  neces- 
sarily left  in  the  field  while  the  work  is  going  on,  such 
as  harvesters,  et  cetera,  are  covered  with  a  tarpaulin  in 
an  approaching  rain  or  when  left  over  Sunday. 

I  have  been  amazed  to  see  how  quickly  men  who  have 
been  taught  to  neglect  machinery  become  interested  in 
caring  for  it  and  in  taking  a  real  pride  therein.  I 
would  say,  then,  that  the  first  great  problem  in  labor  is 
the  lack  of  skill  and  interest  in  the  laborer.  But  these 
are  not  the  only  conditions  of  labor  that  I  find  are 
difficult  I  realize,  I  think,  that  the  farm  laborer  is 
underpaid.  At  the  same  time  I  believe  that  he  is  paid 


66  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

all  he  is  worth,  and  even  more  in  his  present  condition 
of  indifference  and  ineptitude. 

I  could  better  afford  to  pay  a  careful  and  enthusias- 
tic laborer,  who  would  see  that  his  implements  were 
properly  adjusted  and  cared  for,  $1.50  a  day  than  I 
could  pay  one,  equally  as  strong  and  working  equally 
as  long,  of  the  usual  type,  $.75  a  day.  When  I  tell  my 
neighbor  farmers  that  we  pay  too  low  hire  for  labor 
they  are  horrified.  They  say  that,  as  it  is,  they  are  con- 
stantly driven  to  the  utmost  endeavors  to  raise  money 
to  pay  for  farm  labor,  and  yet  the  labor  needs  to  be 
done.  The  growing  of  crops  ought  to  be  done  skil- 
fully and  carefully  at  far  less  expense  than  it  is  done 
at  the  present  time,  indifferently  and  carelessly. 

No  laborer  is  fit  for  farm  work  who  does  not  take  a 
lively  interest  in  the  work  and  its  character,  and  when 
he  does  that  and  when  he  is  taught  the  skill  that  is  nec- 
essary, he  can  earn  twice  as  much  as  he  gets  at  the 
present  time  and  the  farmer  is  no  worse  off  in  paying 
him  double  the  price. 

REGARD    FOE    CONTRACT. 

Another  difficulty  which  the  farmer  has  is  lack  of  re- 
gard of  a  laborer  for  his  contract.  Many  laborers  on 
the  farm  are  necessarily  employed  by  the  day,  as  it 
would  not  be  profitable  to  keep  them  over  the  lax  sea- 
son. There  are  two  or  three  times  during  the  busy 
seasons  of  the  farmer's  year  when  he  has  to  have  excess 
labor,  and  these  are  the  times  of  planting,  of  harvesting 
and  of  thrashing.  As  you  look  into  the  faces  of  the 
extra  help  you  realize  the  magnitude  of  this  great  prob- 
lem. As  these  are  strenuous  days,  it  is  customary  and 
proper  to  pay  higher  wages.  I  have  noticed  repeatedly, 
however,  that  men  whom  I  have  employed  by  the  month 


FARM  LABOR  67 

throw  up  their  jobs  when  a  busy  time  comes  around  and 
some  one  offers  them  a  little  higher  price.  This  is  due 
to  a  numbing  of  the  moral  nature.  Not  only  should 
a  farm  laborer  be  taught  skill  and  enthusiasm,  but  he 
should  be  taught  honor  and  duty. 

During  the  present  season,  after  I  began  to  fill  my 
silo,  one  of  the  workers  whom  I  had  hired  by  the  month 
quit  in  the  midst  of  the  work.  The  alleged  reason  was 
that  the  foreman  had  failed  to  pay  him  for  a  day's 
work  in  June,  when  he  claimed  to  have  been  present  and 
the  records  of  the  farm  showed  that  he  was  absent.  It 
was  evident  that  this  was  only  an  alleged  reason.  If  he 
had  been  dissatisfied  with  not  having  received  his  day's 
wages  for  June,  he  would  have  protested  long  before. 
The  fact  was,  however,  that  just  at  that  time  the  farmers 
were  offering  from  $1.50  to  $2  a  day  for  men  to  help 
them  with  their  corn  harvest,  and  this  was  too  much 
of  an  attraction  for  the  laborer  who  had  hired  to  me 
for  the  rest  of  the  season  by  the  month  and  had  agreed 
to  stay  up  to  the  beginning  of  winter. 

You  can  hardly  blame  the  laboring  man  who  looks 
at  it  from  his  own  peculiar  point  of  view.  In  working 
by  the  month  he  receives  a  little  less  than  $1  a  day ;  by 
throwing  up  his  job  and  going  to  another  he  would  get 
nearly  $2  a  day.  He  forgets,  however,  that  the  extra 
job  lasts  at  the  most  two  or  three  weeks,  and  then  prob- 
ably he  is  out  of  a  job  altogether.  His  reason  did  not 
go  as  far  as  this,  but  only  looked  at  the  pay  by  day. 

DUTY    OF    EMPLOYER. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  employers  to  provide  forms  of 
amusement  and  forgetfulness  for  the  farm  laborers. 
There  should  be  a  place  where  he  could  spend  an  hour 
by  night,  if  he  wants  to,  in  billiards  or  other  innocent 


68  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

games.  There  should  be  a  playground  where  he  could 
take  a  part  in  sport.  There  should  be  a  library  where 
he  could  read  the  current  journals  and  literature,  as 
well  as  the  permanent  records  in  books.  The  farmers' 
clubs  should  provide  a  "  movie  "  for  each  community. 
In  fact,  the  farm  laborer  should  be  treated  as  a  human 
being,  and  not  as  a  neglected  agricultural  implement. 

In  so  far  as  that  is  concerned,  I  must  say  that  the 
good  farmer,  as  a  rule,  is  far  more  careful  of  his  mow- 
ing machine  and  his  disc  plow  than  he  is  of  the  welfare 
of  his  farm  laborer.  The  farm  laborer  lives  in  insani- 
tary quarters,  the  bath  is  a  luxury  unknown  to  him. 
In  my  part  of  the  county  there  is  no  old  swimming  hole. 
It  is  many  miles  to  the  Shenandoah  or  to  Goose  Creek. 
He  sleeps  in  beds  that  are  not  at  all  attractive  to  those 
accustomed  to  cleanliness.  He  eats  hastily  and  often 
poorly  cooked  foods,  and  then  he  flies  to  the  only  source 
of  joy  he  knows,  alcohol. 

All  of  this  terrible  condition  must  be  changed.  It 
cannot  be  done  in  a  day  nor  a  week;  it  can  only  be 
done  gradually.  The  boy  whose  destiny  is  to  labor 
must  be  taught  its  dignity.  He  must  realize  that  he  is 
a  human  being  and  is  to  be  cared  for  as  other  human 
beings.  He  must  be  provided  with  decent  quarters  and 
proper  amusements,  and  then  his  life  will  not  be  simply 
labor  and  intoxication.  No  wonder  that  all  those  who 
can  get  away  from  farm  labor  seek  to  do  so.  There  are 
left  only  those  without  ambition  or  talent. 

A  new  purpose  must  be  imparted  to  the  laborer,  and 
a  new  prospect  of  life  and  enjoyment  spread  out  before 
him.  It  is  not  so  much  an  increase  of  wages  as  it  is  a 
revision  of  environment.  We  should  all  endeavor  to 
bring  about  that  day  when,  looking  into  the  face  of  the 
farm  laborer,  we  see  health,  intelligence,  enthusiasm. 


PROHIBITION  FOR  THE  FARMER 

IN"  all  the  arguments  which  I  have  seen  favoring  pro- 
hibition, I  have  never  yet  encountered  a  plea  for 
prohibition  because  of  its  value  to  agriculture.  One 
of  the  stock  arguments  against  prohibition  has  been  that 
it  will  injure  the  farmer  by  contracting  his  markets  for 
rye,  barley  and  maize.  My  experience  has  shown  me 
that  one  of  the  principal  benefits  which  prohibition  of- 
fers is  protection  to  the  farmer.  One  of  the  most  pa- 
thetic eights  which  I  have  personally  witnessed  is  that 
of  the  man  who  works  with  becoming  industry  and  vigor 
during  the  week  at  hard  labor  on  the  farm,  for  small 
wages,  and  on  Saturday  night  invests  the  larger  part  of 
his  week's  earnings  in  rotgut  whiskey. 

My  farm  in  Virginia  is  in  what  is  known  as  a  dry 
county.  There  is  not  a  saloon  within  the  borders  of 
Loudoun  County,  but  in  spite  of  the  Webb  law  there 
still  remain  the  express  company,  and  for  aught  I  know 
the  parcels  post  If  one  takes  the  trouble  to  go  to 
Bluemont,  the  terminus  of  the  Washington  and  Old 
Dominion  electric  railway,  at  the  time  of  the  arrival 
of  the  last  train  on  Saturday  evening,  he  will  find  a 
large  assembly  awaiting  its  coming.  This  assembly  is 
composed  largely  of  agricultural  laborers  who  have 
finished  their  week's  task  and  are  now  preparing  to 
enjoy  themselves.  When  the  express  car  comes  in 

there  is  a  lively  commotion.     I  don't  know  how  many 

69 


70  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

packages,  for  I  have  never  had  an  opportunity  to  count 
them,  neatly  put  up  in  stiff  cardboard,  are  disembarked 
and  eagerly  claimed  by  the  waiting  consignees.  The 
maximum  content  of  these  packages  is  usually  a  gal- 
lon, though  smaller  packages  are  sent  to  those  who  have 
less  thirst,  smaller  means,  or  better  control  of  appe- 
tite. 

ADULTERATED   WHISKEY. 

One  of  the  worst  features  about  this  consignment  of 
intoxicating  liquors  is  that  it  is  exclusively,  as  far  as 
I  have  been  able  to  observe,  what  is  known  as  rectified 
goods.  The  man  at  hard  labor  evidently  wants  nothing 
but  alcohol,  and  why  should  he  pay  four  and  five  dol- 
lars a  gallon  for  it  in  the  form  of  old,  mellow  whiskey, 
when  he  can  get  a  larger  amount  of  intoxication  out 
of  the  cheaper,  fabricated,  artificially  flavored  substi- 
tutes? From  one  to  three  or  four  dollars,  according 
to  the  number  and  size  of  the  packages,  is  paid  out  by 
the  laboring  man,  while  perhaps  his  wife  and  children 
are  living  in  squalor  and  want.  A  few  years  ago  one 
of  these  besotted  victims,  carrying  his  rifle,  passed  by 
the  cottage  of  a  friend  near  my  place,  on  the  road  to 
call  on  an  acquaintance  near  by.  Soon  thereafter  there 
was  a  sound  of  a  shot,  and  the  head  of  the  house  on 
whom  the  drunken  man  had  called  lay  dead  in  his  yard. 
This  is  only  a  type  of  the  crimes  which  are  committed 
by  those  crazed  with  alcohol,  who  in  their  sober  mo- 
ments would  be  law-abiding  and  life-respecting  citizens. 

It  is  well  known  that  intoxication  has  two  opposite 
effects  upon  its  victims:  One  it  makes  merry,  jovial 
and  companionable;  another  it  makes  sullen,  morose 
and  dangerous.  Possibly  the  character  of  the  drink 
also  has  something  to  do  with  the  effect,  and  it  does 


PROHIBITION  FOR  THE  FARMER  71 

seem  that  those  who  are  able  and  have  the  taste  to  use 
only  old  and  ripened  intoxicating  liquors  are  less 
vicious  and  less  dangerous  under  their  influence  than 
those  who  patronize  the  artificial  varieties. 

CONTINUING    EFFECT    OF   THEi   JAG. 

The  effect  upon  the  farm  laborer  of  his  Sunday  jag 
is  most  disastrous.  All  day  Saturday  he  is  uneasy 
and  inefficient  in  his  work,  as  he  thinks  of  the  ap- 
proaching hour  when  his  raging  thirst,  so-called,  will 
be  quenched.  This  is  a  most  unfortunate  figure  of 
speech.  There  is  no  quenching  of  a  thirst ;  there  is  the 
igniting  of  a  powder  magazine.  If  thirst  really  ex- 
isted, a  cup  of  cold  mountain  water  from  the  near  by 
spring  would  soon  satisfy  it.  No,  it  is  a  craving  of 
the  caged  lion  for  liberty,  of  the  starving  man  for  food, 
of  the  criminal  for  blood.  It  can  be  satisfied  only  by 
the  stimulus  which  brings  surcease  of  sorrow,  freedom 
from  the  knowledge  of  fatigue,  and  a  happy  reckless- 
ness which  makes  the  world  for  a  time  look  rosy  and 
attractive.  Then  the  Sunday  of  drinking  and  carous- 
ing, ending  in  drunkenness  and  debauchery,  then  a 
Monday  of  sobering  and  recuperation,  during  which  no 
work  can  be  done,  then  a  Tuesday  of  lassitude  and  de- 
pression, due  to  the  reaction  from  the  stimulus,  and  so 
we  come  to  the  middle  of  the  week  before  the  farm  la- 
borer is  himself  again,  only  to  work  for  a  few  days  to 
get  means  to  repeat  the  debauchery  from  which  he  has 
just  recovered. 

To  this  large  class  of  people,  brought  up  at  hard 
labor,  often  without  education,  or  rather,  often  without 
the  ambition  for  education,  these  dull,  long-suffering, 
stupid  wrecks  of  humanity,  the  weekly  debauch  brings 
the  only  ray  of  hope  and  joy  in  their  lives.  Yet  if  it 


72  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

were  impossible  for  them  to  secure  the  means  where- 
with this  craving  could  be  satisfied,  this  beastly  ra- 
pacity sated,  it  would  not  be  long  before  the  normal 
state  of  existence  would  be  restored.  The  craving  for 
alcoholic  drinks  of  this  kind  is  a  habit,  which,  like 
every  other  habit,  may  be  broken,  although  it  may 
seem  that  life  itself  is  hanging  in  the  balance  when  an 
attempt  is  made  to  overcome  one  so  strong, 

PBOHIBITION   TO   BE  EFFECTIVE   MUST  BE   NATION  WIDE. 

In  order,  however,  to  secure  immunity  from  this 
curse,  prohibition  must  be  wider  than  the  county  or 
the  state.  It  must  be  nation  wide,  it  must  be  world 
wide.  I  have  been  long  coming  to  this  opinion.  In 
my  earlier  days  I  consoled  myself  with  the  thought  that 
I  was  not  my  brother's  keeper.  Further,  I  thought 
that  when  a  man  had  reached  man's  estate  it  was  none 
of  my  business  what  he  ate  or  drank,  what  kind  of 
clothes  he  wore,  what  church  he  belonged  to,  what  party 
yoke  he  wore,  or  what  business  he  engaged  in.  Not 
being  a  teetotaler,  I  naturally  resented  any  action  which 
would  dictate  to  me  what  I  should  serve  at  a  dinner 
given  my  friends,  or  what  I  should  eat  or  drink  at  a 
dinner  given  me  by  my  friends.  Never  having  been  a 
user  of  intoxicating  liquors  of  any  kind  between  meals, 
I  thought  that  the  table,  like  a  man's  house,  was  his 
castle.  I  did  not  forget,  however,  the  attitude  of  St. 
Paul  in  regard  to  the  eating  of  meat,  when  he  said: 
"  If  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend  I  will  eat  no  flesh 
while  the  world  standeth."  And  so  slowly  I  have  been 
driven,  like  Mead  at  Gettysburg,  to  Cemetery  Hill, 
where  I  have  taken  my  stand  against  the  enemy. 

To  me  it  seems  only  a  small  sacrifice  to  make  to  give 
up  my  wines  at  dinners  for  the  sake  of  the  benefit  which 


PROHIBITION  FOR  THE  FARMER  73 

will  come  to  mankind.  How  glad  I  would  be  to-day 
if  I  could  look  out  upon  the  broad  horizon  and  feel  that 
nowhere  beneath  the  sun  on  this  revolving  planet  did 
there  exist  a  business,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  poison, 
degrade  and  ruin  humanity!  I  am  not  appalled  by 
the  thought  that  prison  cells  will  be  empty  and  poor- 
houses  abolished,  and  poverty  removed,  as  a  result  of 
the  destruction  of  a  business  which  yields  two  hundred 
and  fifty  million  dollars  a  year  of  revenue,  and  employs 
thousands  of  men  in  brewing,  distilling,  transporting 
and  selling  distilled  liquors. 

COMMON    DESIRE   FOR   STIMTTLASTTS. 

At  the  same  time  one  should  not  quite  forget  the 
universal  liking  of  mankind  for  stimulants.  There 
might  be  some  happy  compromise  in  this  matter,  and 
yet  it  is  dangerous  to  compromise  with  the  devil.  He 
is  more  than  likely  to  get  the  better  of  you,  while  you 
think  you  are  winning  your  own  point  The  manufac- 
turer of  pure  beer, —  I  mean  by  that  a  beverage  made 
of  malted  barley  and  hops, —  and  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  pure  wine, —  and  I  mean  by  that  a  beverage 
made  solely  of  the  fermented  juice  of  the  grape, — 
might  still  be  permitted  without  great  danger  to  hu- 
manity. It  is  the  distilled  liquor  which  does  the 
damage,  as  a  rule.  If  prohibition  of  all  kinds  of  alco- 
holic beverages  is  not  possible  at  the  present  time,  what 
an  inestimable  blessing  would  be  bestowed  upon  hu- 
manity if  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  distilled  bev- 
erages were  utterly  abolished  I 

SOBRIETY  A  BENECTT  TO   AGRICTJI/rUREL 

The  benefit  to  agriculture  in  such  localities  as  those 
in  which  I  live  would  be  immense,  and  the  poverty  and 


74  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

suffering  which  I  so  often  see  would  be  abolished,  if 
we  could  get  rid  of  the  distilled  beverages  at  once. 
There  would  be  little  danger  of  shipping  enough  pure 
wine  or  pure  beer  to  make  any  farm  laborer  spend  the 
whole  of  his  week's  wages  and  be  unfit  for  work  for  a 
third  of  the  next  week.  I  said  to  my  foreman,  who 
had  had  experience  with  a  number  of  week-end  drunk- 
ards, "  When  next  you  are  hiring  a  hand,  make  par- 
ticular inquiry  if  he  uses  distilled  spirits  in  any  form 
or  manner,  and  if  he  does,  do  not  hire  him  to  work  on 
my  place."  The  railroads  are  now  enforcing  a  rule 
which  forbids  them  to  employ  or  keep  in  their  employ 
any  man  who  frequents  a  saloon  or  uses  intoxicating 
beverages.  The  farm  is  as  much  in  danger  as  the  rail- 
way train.  It  would  have  an  excellent  influence  upon 
agriculture  in  general  if  farmers  would  band  together 
and  refuse  to  employ  any  laborer  who  is  even  partially 
a  drunkard.  When  those  who  drink  intoxicating 
liquors  find  that  there  are  no  avenues  of  employment 
left  open  to  them,  there  will  be  established  an  argument 
for  sobriety  which  is  powerful  and  efficient. 

I  was  greatly  surprised,  as  well  as  delighted,  a  year 
ago  when  the  State  of  West  Virginia,  composed  as  it 
is  largely  of  a  foreign  population  engaged  in  mining, 
voted  by  a  large  majority  for  state-wide  prohibition. 
When  I  inquired  of  a  citizen  in  regard  to  the  matter, 
saying  I  thought  that  the  miners  to  a  man  would  vote 
against  this  amendment,  he  replied,  "  The  miners  al- 
most to  a  man  voted  in  favor  of  it."  And  when  I  said, 
"  Do  they  not  use  beer  and  wine  ?  "  "  Yes,"  he  said, 
"  they  do,  and  if  these  were  the  only  things  on  sale  in 
the  State  they  probably  would  have  voted  the  other 
way,  but  the  miners  themselves  realized  that  the  great- 
est danger  which  threatened  them  was  the  use  of  dis- 


PROHIBITION  FOR  THE  FARMER  75 

tilled  beverages,  and  so  they  joined  almost  unanimously 
in  favoring  state-wide  prohibition."  As  I  read  the  last 
galley  proofs  of  this  book  on  this  good  twenty-third  day 
of  September,  1914,  the  good  news  has  come  that  Old 
Virginia  has  voted  for  state-wide  prohibition  by  nearly 
40,000'  majority !  God  be  praised  1 

SOUTH   VS.    NOETH. 

I  have  often  been  asked  why  it  is  that  prohibition  is 
more  popular  in  the  South  than  it  is  in  the  North,  and 
the  reasons  which  I  have  heard  are  of  the  same  char- 
acter as  those  mentioned  above.  The  negro  is  more 
prone  to  become  a  victim  of  the  alcohol  habit  than  the 
white  man.  As  the  beverages  which  are  sold  to  the 
negroes  are  the  lowest  and  cheapest  of  their  kind,  made 
of  alcohol,  coloring  and  flavoring  materials,  and  desig- 
nated as  "nigger  whiskey,"  the  effects  which  are  pro- 
duced upon  the  colored  man  who  drinks  this  material 
are  something  fearful.  He  becomes  more  of  a  beast 
than  a  human  being,  and  the  white  people  of  the  South 
who  do  the  voting,  although  many  of  them  are  users 
to  some  degree  of  alcoholic  beverages,  have  gladly  voted 
for  prohibition  in  order  to  protect  themselves  and  the 
States  from  annihilation. 

AN"  ARGUMENT  FOB  EQUAL,  SUFFRAGE. 

One  argument  in  favor  of  conferring  the  suffrage 
upon  woman  is  that  she  will  aid  her  brother  in 
establishing  state-wide  and  nation-wide  prohibition. 
Whether  this  is  so  or  not,  I  am  unable  to  say.  Sta- 
tistics are  unreliable.  I  would  infer  from  all  the 
circumstances  that  the  woman  would  be  a  prohibition- 
ist, because  she  suffers  more  than  her  husband  from  his 
drunkenness.  Her  love  of  him  and  of  her  children 


76  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

and  of  herself  would  lead  her  to  the  polls  to  vote  for 
prohibition. 

It  is  true  that  there  might  he  some  little  embarrass- 
ment in  diplomatic  circles  if  the  country  were  wholly 
and  really  dry ;  but  the  amenities  of  diplomacy,  it  seems 
to  me,  would  soon  find  some  way  to  surmount  this 
vaunted  objection  to  official  prohibition.  We  rejoice 
that  we  have  a  president  and  a  cabinet  who  are  alto- 
gether sober  and  serious-minded,  not  one  of  whom  is 
addicted  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  beverages  and  many 
of  whom  are  strongly  in  favor  of  nation-wide  prohibi- 
tion. This  at  least  is  a  mark  of  progress,  and  perhaps 
I  may  yet  live  to  be  able  to  conduct  my  farm,  and  my 
neighbors  to  do  the  same,  without  the  curse  of  drunken- 
ness brooding  over  us  from  Saturday  night  to  Tuesday 
morning. 

THE  HIRED  HAOT)  NOT  WHOLLY  TO  BLAME. 

What  a  glorious  thing  it  would  be  for  this  country 
if  there  was  a  Webb  law  which  really  forbade  and  pre- 
vented the  shipment  of  intoxicating  liquors  into  dry 
territory.  Unfortunately  under  the  present  condi- 
tions, if  these  packages  are  shipped  to  individuals  and 
not  intended  for  sale,  they  are  not  contraband.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  compute  the  injury  which  is  done 
to  this  one  county  of  Loudoun  by  the  rotten  intoxicants 
that  are  shipped  into  it  on  Saturday  night. 

But  somehow  I  can  hardly  find  it  in  my  heart  to 
blame  the  poor  workman.  Eather  do  I  blame  those 
who  make  and  ship  this  deadly  poison,  and  our  laws 
and  lawmakers  who  permit  such  a  dreadful  commerce. 
If  you  look  at  it  from  the  inside,  there  is  not  much  in 
the  farm  laborer's  life.  From  sun  to  sun  he  is  sup- 
posed to  be  engaged  in  hard  labor,  with  only  an  hour 


PROHIBITION  FOR  THE  FARMER  77 

and  a  half  intermission  at  noon.  He  has  no  stimulus 
of  literature,  no  enthusiasm  of  poetry,  there  are  no 
moving  pictures,  no  plays.  He  doesn't  get  to  go  fish- 
ing, nor  hunting,  nor  to  join  in  the  local  ball  game, 
if  there  be  one.  His  life  is  a  dreary  round  of  unskilled 
labor,  performed  with  indifference.  The  only  joy  he 
knows,  perhaps,  is  the  intoxication  that  comes  with  the 
insidious  alcohol,  which  brings  also  temporary  forget- 
fulness  of  poverty  and  fatigue. 


XI 

IS  THE  SMALL  FARMER  TO  DISAPPEAR? 

AS  I  have  studied  from  time  to  time  the  practical 
problems  which  present  themselves  to  the  farmer 
above  fifty,  visions  of  disaster  to  the  small  farmer  have 
presented  themselves.  It  is  a  question  with  me  whether 
the  small  farmer, —  I  mean  by  that  the  man  with,  say, 
one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land, 
—  is  going  to  be  able  to  persist.  In  other  words,  I  see 
the  indications  of  the  establishment  in  the  United 
States,  as  it  grows  older,  of  certain  class  distinctions, 
that  have  grown  up,  in  so  far  as  I  know,  in  all  the  old 
countries  of  the  world.  These  signs  may  be  deceptive, 
but  they  are  at  least  alarming. 

The  vision  which  is  now  before  me  is  that  of  a  pro- 
prietary class,  and  practically  a  peasant  class.  I  have 
already  described  the  farm  laborer  of  Virginia,  belong- 
ing, as  he  does,  to  a  class  which  is  apparently  without 
ambition.  The  young  man  as  he  graduates  to  his  ma- 
jority passes  at  once  to  the  position  of  a  farm  laborer, 
and  most  surprisingly  with  no  ambition  to  be  anything 
else.  When  I  offered  to  my  head  farmer  a  proposition 
to  become  interested  in  the  output  of  the  land,  in  other 
words,  to  begin  as  a  tenant,  his  answer  to  me  was  char- 
acteristic. He  said,  "  I  have  all  I  can  eat  and  wear, 
why  should  I  want  more  ?  " 

THE  IX)E1>   OF   THE   MANOR. 

If  farm  labor  is  to  become  hereditary,  it  cannot  fail 

of  producing  a  distinct  type  of  citizen,  which  in  all  re- 

78 


79 

spects  is  equivalent  to  the  landless  peasant  type  of  the 
old  world.  Of  course  the  existence  of  a  type  like  this 
necessitates  the  existence  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  or 
the  proprietor.  There  is  scarcely  any  kind  of  farm 
labor  except  that  which  is  known  as  "  chores,"  which 
cannot  be  more  economically  done  on  a  large  than  a 
small  scale.  The  plains  of  the  Virginia  valleys  could 
easily  be  plowed  by  traction  power  if  the  fields  were 
made  somewhat  larger.  Of  course  there  are  areas 
where  the  ground  is  so  stony,  both  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  and  in  the  Loudoun  Valley,  that  traction  plow- 
ing is  out  of  the  question,  but  these  areas  are  compara- 
tively small.  On  my  own  farm,  as  far  as  the  arable 
land  is  concerned,  I  imagine  that  four-fifths  of  it  could 
now  be  plowed  by  a  traction  engine,  and  a  good  part  of 
the  rest  might  have  the  loose  stones  removed  so  as  to 
make  such  plowing  practical.  In  the  harvesting  of  the 
crops,  also,  the  self-loader  and  the  hay  fork  are  already 
supplementing  the  reaper  and  binder  in  making  the 
harvest  one  of  large  dimensions  and  economically  con- 
ducted rather  than  the  saving  of  a  small  crop  by  the  old 
hand  methods.  It  is  only  the  harvesting  of  Indian  corn 
which  so  far  has  barred  the  progress  of  improvement  in 
agricultural  implements.  The  harvesting  of  the  Indian 
corn  to-day  is  practically  the  same  as  that  conducted  a 
hundred  years  ago.  Either  the  corn  is  gathered  after 
drying  upon  the  stalks  in  the  fields,  or  the  corn,  while 
still  green,  is  cut  and  shocked  and  afterwards  husked 
by  hand.  I  have  just  introduced  on  my  farm  a  corn 
harvester  which  cuts  and  binds  the  stalks  into  bundles 
of  convenient  size.  It  apparently  gives  satisfaction 
for  corn  drilled  for  ensilage,  but  is  not  so  time-saving 
when  grown  in  hills  for  cultivation  both  ways. 

The  existence  of  improved  machinery,  especially  of 


80  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

the  traction  plow,  would  also  be  economical  in  diminish- 
ing the  number  of  working  horses  and  mules  required. 
I  have  made  a  somewhat  accurate  computation  of  the 
cost  of  keeping  a  working  horse  or  mule  a  year,  and  it 
is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  horse  or  mule  must  be  fed 
every  day  whether  it  works  or  is  idle.  The  winter  and 
the  needs  of  the  farm  permit  the  horse  or  the  mule  to 
be  idle  almost,  if  not  quite,  half  the  time.  The  hay 
and  oats  and  Indian  corn  necessary  to  keep  a  working 
animal  in  good  condition  cost  not  less  than  fifteen  cents 
a  day  for  the  entire  year.  In  round  numbers,  then, 
it  costs  from  $55  to  $60  to  feed  a  working  horse  or  mule 
a  year.  This  does  not  include  the  attention  which  is 
given  in  the  way  of  currying,  carrying  out  the  manure, 
keeping  the  harness,  et  cetera.  Two  horses  or  mules 
are  necessary  for  every  fifty  acres  under  cultivation. 
A  man  with  one  hundred  acres,  therefore,  must  keep 
at  least  four  working  animals,  and  the  cost  of  keeping 
these  animals  is  pretty  close  to  $250  a  year. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  traction  engine  eats  only  when 
it  works,  and  while  it  costs  a  great  deal  more  per  day, 
the  traction  engine  will  probably  not  be  employed  over 
forty  or  fifty  days  a  year,  hardly  that  long.  So  that 
upon  the  whole,  it  becomes  less  expensive  to  use  this 
kind  of  labor  than  it  does  that  of  horses  or  mules. 

THE   ADVANCING    PRICE   OF   LASTD. 

Again,  I  see  in  the  advancing  price  of  land  greater 
difficulties  towards  the  acquirement  of  small  hold- 
ings. There  is  a  distinct  tendency,  in  my  opinion,  to 
larger  agricultural  holdings,  and  that  means  the  de- 
velopment of  the  agricultural  farm  labor  class,  which 
to  my  mind  is  greatly  to  be  deplored.  If  we  are  to 


IS  THE  SMALL  FARMER  TO  DISAPPEAR!  81 

have  a  democracy  in  this  country,  it  should  be  a  democ- 
racy of  equal  rank  and  equal  privileges,  and  not  a  de- 
mocracy composed  of  different  classes  of  democrats,  as 
is  the  case  in  England  and  even  in  France.  In  this 
latter  country,  however,  there  is  one  supreme  ad- 
vantage, namely,  the  principle  of  small  holdings  is  so 
thoroughly  established  that  there  is  little  danger  of  its 
being  crowded  out  by  the  methods  of  extensive  pro- 
prietary farming. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  fact  that  farm  labor  is 
very  poorly  paid  in  the  State  of  Virginia.  This  is 
probably  true  of  other  States.  The  only  excuse  for 
that,  also,  as  I  have  already  noted,  is  the  fact  that  farm 
labor  is  unskilled,  and  much  of  it  does  not  deserve  even 
the  wages  that  are  paid.  But  the  demand  for  increased 
wages  is  insistent  and  must  be  dominant.  The  trades- 
unions,  while  they  have  not  invaded  the  farm  laborers, 
have  sent  their  influence  ahead.  I  do  not  know  that  it 
is  right  to  work  a  farm  hand  on  the  twenty-first  of  June 
from  twenty-two  minutes  past  four,  when  the  sun  rises, 
to  seven-thirty,  when  it  sets;  but  when  you  consider 
that  on  the  twenty-first  of  December  this  same  farm 
hand,  perhaps  hired  by  the  year,  works  only  about  four 
hours, —  and  that  in  feeding  the  farm  animals, —  you 
can  see  that  the  labor  question  evens  itself  up,  because 
the  farm  laborer  hired  by  the  year  is  paid  the  same  rate 
in  the  winter  as  in  the  summer.  If  he  didn't  work 
from  twelve  to  fourteen  hours  a  day  in  the  summer,  the 
average  day  of  the  farm  laborer  would  not  be  more  than 
six  or  seven  hours. 

The  proprietor,  therefore,  must  face  the  problem  of 
paying  higher  wages  and  securing  shorter  hours  of 
service.  This  spirit  of  recognizing  the  laboring  man 


82  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

as  a  human  being  is  not  to  be  denied,  and  I  would  be 
the  last  one  to  seek  to  deny  it.  But  when  this  is  done, 
the  farm  laborer  must  become  more  efficient  and  do 
better  service  while  he  is  employed,  or  else  proprietary 
farming  is  also  doomed. 

ADVANTAGES    OF    LABOR    SAVING    MACHINERY. 

The  use  of  various  kinds  of  machinery  for  lessening 
the  burden  of  labor  has  a  two-fold  advantage.  In  the 
first  place  it  cheapens  the  production  of  the  crop,  by 
introducing  economies  into  the  cultivation  and  handling 
and  in  the  second  place  it  has  a  salutary  effect  upon  the 
laborers  themselves.  I  have  noticed  that  the  laboring 
man,  as  a  rule,  on  the  farm  works  much  more  earnestly 
and  cheerfully  in  connection  with  some  kind  of  ma- 
chinery than  he  does  when  depending  solely  upon  his 
own  exertions  for  the  effect  produced.  The  big  farm, 
therefore,  with  its  reapers  and  binders,  corn  harvesters, 
gang  plows,  traction  engines,  thrashing  machines,  and 
ensilage  cutters,  becomes  a  kind  of  a  social  center,  and 
in  fact  is  a  village.  This  makes  the  farm  laboring  man 
much  more  contented  and  much  more  efficient. 

The  human  animal  is  gregarious  even  in  his  physical 
exertions,  and  a  group  of  men  work  better  together 
than  scattered  around  at  different  points.  When  I  have 
five  acres  of  potatoes  to  cultivate  with  the  hoe,  and  have 
five  men  to  do  the  job,  if  I  put  them  all  abreast,  each 
one  in  his  own  row,  they  will  hoe  over  a  greater  area  and 
do  a  better  job  than  if  they  are  split  up  one  by  one 
and  allowed  no  communication.  Hence  the  proprietary 
farmer  who  employs  a  dozen  or  more  hands  is  certain 
to  have  a  more  contented  body  of  laboring  men,  more 
cheerful  and  more  efficient,  than  the  small  farmer  who 
hires  a  single  individual  who  works  by  himself. 


IS  THE  SMALL  FARMER  TO  DISAPPEAR?  83 

UNIVERSAL,    CONDITION   OF   LANDLORD    AND   LABORER 
DEPLORED. 

Yet  if,  as  a  result  of  all  these  natural  causes,  this 
country  should  drift  into  a  nation  of  proprietary  farm- 
ers and  farm  laborers,  it  would  be  a  matter  of  sincere 
regret  from  the  human  standpoint.  If  our  people  are 
to  be  wedded  to  the  soil,  how  much  better  it  would  be 
for  everybody,  it  seems  to  me,  save  perhaps  financially, 
to  have  our  lands  broken  up  into  small  holdings  of  ten, 
fifteen  or  twenty-five  acres,  so  that  each  individual 
workman  might  have  a  plot  of  land  of  his  own  and  thus 
the  farm  laborer  become  a  small  proprietor  taking  a 
direct  interest  in  his  fields.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the 
fact  that  it  would  be  good  for  the  fields,  and  I  think 
there  is  little  doubt  of  the  fact  that  it  would  be  good 
for  the  farm  laborer. 

The  civic  center  might  still  be  retained,  as  it  is  in 
the  European  small  village,  and  a  group  of  farmers 
could  build  their  houses  near  together,  as  I  have  al- 
ready suggested,  and  thus  have  the  benefit  of  incipient 
social  service.  This  service  might  be  very  much  ex- 
tended. The  country  is  now  covered  with  intelligent 
and  educated  men  and  women  who  are  engaged  in  the 
farm  extension  service.  It  would  be  an  easy  matter 
for  them  to  engage,  also,  in  the  extension  of  social  serv- 
ice to  the  farmers.  A  common  meeting  hall  might  be 
provided,  which  would  be  a  kind  of  a  club-house,  where 
the  farm  magazines  could  be  kept,  agricultural  litera- 
ture distributed,  and  perhaps  some  simple  games  of  ten- 
nis or  billiards  indulged  in.  If  these  centers  were  so 
situated  as  to  be  accessible  to  a  large  number  of  farmers, 
the  dreadful  isolation  of  the  farm  life  would  be  to  this 
degree  remedied, 


84  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

I  am  not  a  prophet,  although  I  see  visions  of  the  fu- 
ture. But  these  visions  are  confused  like  the  visions  of 
a  dream.  They  are  not  clearly  limned,  and  I  see  one 
problem  merging  into  another,  and  two  conditions  of 
life  coalescing;  and  the  light  of  the  vision  is  not  in- 
tense enough  to  see  the  final  settlement  of  all  these  con- 
flicting elements.  My  hope  is  that  there  may  be  devel- 
oped in  this  country  millions  of  land  owners,  so-called, 
who  have  a  personal  interest  in  the  body  of  land  on 
which  they  live,  who  care  for  it  as  they  would  care  for 
their  horse  or  their  child,  who  take  a  delight  in  the 
fertility  of  the  fields  and  know  the  methods  of  maintain- 
ing it,  who  are  not  ambitious  for  high  social  or  po- 
litical preferment,  but  are  ambitious  to  lead  clean, 
wholesome  and  useful  lives  of  industry,  and  who,  in 
the  association  of  their  neighbors  and  friends,  may  no 
longer  be  isolated,  but  may  have,  in  enduring  the  toil 
of  the  farmer,  the  privileges  of  social  advancement  and 
association. 

And  yet  this  vision,  which  it  seems  to  me  would  be 
the  ideal  one  of  the  future,  is  clouded  with  that  other 
mist  of  the  landed  proprietor,  with  his  hundreds  or 
thousands  of  acres,  with  his  huge  machines  for  plowing 
and  cultivating  and  harvesting,  living  perhaps  in  a 
palace,  and  surrounded  with  the  huts  of  peasants,  men 
who  have  no  interest  whatever  in  the  soil  itself,  but  who 
live  simply  to  have  enough  to  eat  and  something  to 
wear.  There  may  be  a  few  middlemen  by  means  of 
which  these  two  conditions  may  partly  coalesce,  but 
to  my  mind  the  tendency  is  either  one  way  or  the  other. 

Farming,  then,  will  not  only  become  a  science  but 
a  business,  as  clearly  defined  as  manufacturing  or  dis- 
tribution, and  there  will  be  farmer  princes  and  cap- 
tains of  industry,  as  there  are  to-day  in  manufacturing, 


IS  THE  SMALL  FARMER  TO  DISAPPEAR?  85 

distribution  and  banking.  The  man  of  fifty  who  goes 
upon  a  farm  will  also  be  a  man  of  wealth,  and  he  will 
not  go  upon  the  farm  as  a  business  proposition,  but  as 
a  luxury.  The  actual  proprietor  of  the  farm  will  be 
born  and  bred  to  his  trade,  educated  for  it,  enter  it 
when  he  is  young  and  stick  to  it,  if  he  succeeds,  until 
he  dies.  And  yet  this  is  the  most  serious  question  of 
all:  Does  the  future  afford  no  promise  for  the  farm 
laborer  ? 


XII 

THE  PLACE  OF  THE  FARMER  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE 

IT  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  a  feeling,  however 
just  or  unjust  it  may  be,  that  the  farmer  of  the  past, 
and  even  of  to-day,  belongs  to  an  inferior  rank.  This 
feeling,  of  course,  is  not  entertained  by  men  and  women 
of  culture  and  of  broad  views,  but  it  is  a  common  theme 
exploited  by  the  so-called  wit  and  cartoonist  The 
farmer  is  pictured,  in  the  comic  papers  especially,  as 
the  easy  victim  of  the  sharper  and  the  faker.  In  point 
of  fact  he  is  also  the  victim  of  the  lightning  rod  seller, 
the  book  seller  and  the  nostrum  purveyor. 

The  character  of  advertisements  carried  in  farm 
journals  is  not  always  of  a  kind  to  elevate,  ennoble  and 
purify  country  life.  The  baldest  schemes  of  curing  all 
diseases,  of  furnishing  wonderful  seeds,  of  securing  in- 
surance, of  fabulous  profits  from  certain  crops,  and 
other  means  of  taking  advantage  of  the  unwary  and  the 
unsuspecting,  are  exploited  to  a  greater  degree  in  the 
country  than  even  in  the  city.  While  it  is  probably 
true  that  the  farmer  with  his  average  intelligence  ranks 
well  up  in  the  scale  of  social  existence,  it  is  true  also 
that  by  his  lack  of  experience  of  men  and  affairs  he  is 
less  prone  to  suspect  and  therefore  more  open  to  ap- 
proach than  his  brother  who  has  become  used  to  the 
wiles  of  the  city. 

THE   FAEMEE.   EXPLOITED    POLITICALLY. 

The  farmer  has  also  been  exploited  as  a  class  for 

political  purposes.     Appeals  are  made  directly  to  the 

86 


PLACE  OF  THE  FARMER  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE        87 

farmer  as  a  separate  class  of  society.  Laws  are  passed 
presumably  for  his  benefit,  which  are  often  for  his  in- 
jury. It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  in  a  farming  and 
dairying  community  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  rigid 
laws  covering  the  inspection  and  commerce  in  dairy 
products.  In  some  of  the  farming  States  where  the 
dairy  industry  is  dominant,  the  legal  standard  for  milk 
is  fixed  at  three  per  cent  of  fat,  whereas  it  is  well 
known  that  the  average  fat  content  of  American  milk  is 
not  less  than  four  per  cent.  Sanitary  laws,  looking 
to  the  cleaning  up  of  the  dairies  and  the  pig  pens  and 
the  stables  in  the  country,  and  to  a  proper  sanitation 
of  the  water  supply,  looking  to  the  control  of  typhoid 
fever  and  other  contagious  and  infectious  diseases,  are 
not  only  difficult  to  enact  in  a  country  community,  but 
still  more  difficult  to  enforce. 

The  farmer  is  credited,  moreover,  with  being  a  con- 
servative, when  in  point  of  fact  mere  inertia  is  mis- 
taken for  conservatism.  It  is  difficult  to  get  a  farming 
community  to  vote  for  good  roads,  and  I  am  not  sur- 
prised at  this,  because  in  the  construction  of  good  roads 
such  palpable  frauds  have  been  so  frequently  committed 
upon  the  tax  payer. 

The  farmer  is  also  charged  with  packing  the  best 
apples  on  top  of  the  barrel,  and  putting  the  biggest 
berries  in  the  top  layer  of  the  box.  These  charges  per- 
haps do  not  lie  with  any  greater  pertinence  against  the 
farmer  than  they  do  against  those  in  other  lines  of 
business  practising  similar  kinds  of  deception. 

THE    THBEAT    OF    SOCIAL    CLASSIFICATION. 

I  look  upon  the  attempt  to  classify  American  citi- 
zens, by  reason  of  occupational  pursuits,  into  different 
strata  of  social  efficiency  and  honor,  as  extremely  per- 


88  THE  LUKE  OF  THE  LAND 

ilous,  unwise,  and  threatening  to  the  fundamental 
principles  of  democracy.  A  man  should  not  be  classed 
socially  by  reason  of  his  employment.  If  there  are  to 
be  distinctions  of  a  social  character,  they  should  rest 
upon  individual  merit  and  accomplishment,  and  not 
upon  the  accident  of  profession.  The  officers  of  the 
army,  whose  business  in  time  of  war  is  to  direct  the 
most  efficient  machine  for  killing  human  beings,  rank 
proverbially  high  socially.  The  farmers  who  follow 
the  plow  and  make  the  crops  which  lie  at  the  very  foun- 
dation of  national  prosperity  and  growth,  occupy  a  very 
inferior  position  in  the  social  order.  Even  the  makers 
of  political  platforms  are  not  slow  to  single  out  occu- 
pational classes  in  their  bidding  for  votes.  When  it 
comes  to  voting  the  farmer  and  the  laboring  man  are 
the  real  aristocrats,  and  the  dangerous  habit  is  growing 
up  of  modifying  legislation  to  suit  the  particular  de- 
mands of  a  class,  such  as  the  laborer  or  the  farmer,  with- 
out reference  to  its  intrinsic  merit  or  ethical  founda- 
tion. This  is  not  peculiar  to  the  United  States.  Other 
countries  are  troubled  with  agrarian  agitation  and  the 
passage  of  agrarian  laws  particularly  for  the  protec- 
tion and  benefit  of  the  farmer. 

To  my  mind  the  farmer  is  an  American  citizen.  He 
is  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as  every 
other  citizen.  He  is  not  entitled  to  any  more.  He 
should  not  ask  any  more.  The  politician  who  wants  to 
give  him  more  is  not  a  statesman,  but  a  demagogue. 
The  law  which  gives  him  more  is  not  sound  in  its  legis- 
lative heart.  It  has  the  dry  rot.  It  threatens  to  infect 
the  whole  legal  code.  It  is  class  legislation,  which  in 
its  very  nature  is  vicious  and  in  its  enforcement  calami- 
tous. The  political  ambition  of  the  farmer  should  be  to 
enjoy  the  rights  of  citizenship. 


OUCIIAKU  S    WHEKE    I  U    HLTHEK    UK 


Phololiy  I'.S    l)i>pt.ii(  \KTlriilturi- 

TIIK    I'KACII    THKK    IIOUKK 


PLACE  OF  THE  FARMER  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE        89 

THE  FAEMEE'S  UNION: 

The  farmer,  as  is  the  case  with  every  other  realm  of 
human  activity,  has  the  right  to  organize  for  his  own 
betterment  and  for  his  own  advancement,  but  this  or- 
ganization is  not  for  the  purpose  of  selfish  interests,  nor 
should  the  good  that  comes  from  it  be  at  the  expense 
of  any  other  group  of  citizens.  Agriculture  can  pros- 
per only  as  all  other  industries  prosper.  To  be  sure, 
it  is  the  fundamental  industry.  The  other  industries 
could  not  exist  without  agriculture,  but  it  would  be  a 
poor  kind  of  a  country  in  which  agriculture  was  the 
only  industry.  I  believe  that  all  groups  of  activities 
are  thus  mutually  interdependent,  and  no  one  of  them 
should  be  exploited  at  the  expense  of  the  welfare  of  any 
other. 

If  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  American  gov- 
ernment is  correct,  namely,  that  the  citizen  unit  is 
equal  before  the  law  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  then 
these  attempts  at  class  segregation  must  be  funda- 
mentally in  opposition  to  the  organic  principle  on  which 
the  nation  is  founded.  The  farmer  of  the  present  and 
the  future  will  therefore  have  power  and  influence  in 
proportion  to  his  merit,  his  education,  and  his  devotion 
to  the  public  service,  and  this  is  all  the  power  and  influ- 
ence that  any  man  should  possess. 

Personally  I  believe  that  agriculture  is  the  funda- 
mental profession,  that  it  is  one  in  which  a  man  can 
have  greater  opportunities  for  development,  have 
broader  views  of  life  and  render  more  efficient  service, 
than  in  any  other  activity  in  which  man  engages.  But 
much  depends  upon  the  point  of  view.  There  may  be 
carried  into  agriculture  the  same  selfish  principles  that 
have  made  commerce  synonymous  with  greed  and  Wall 


90  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

Street  synonymous  with  robbery;  but  that  is  not  the 
kind  of  agriculture  that  I  have  in  view.  On  the  farm 
alone  a  human  unit  can  come  into  real  communion  with 
nature.  In  the  fields  he  sees  illustrated  better  than 
anywhere  else  the  unalterable  laws  of  nature  working 
for  the  benefit  of  humanity.  In  the  forest  he  can  sit 
with  the  trees  and  God  as  his  auditors  and  discourse 
upon  life  as  he  can  in  no  other  environment.  The  ris- 
ing of  the  sun  inspires  him,  the  gathering  of  the  storm 
awes  him,  the  beauty  of  nature  charms  him,  the  joy  of 
life  consoles  him.  I  cannot  get  it  out  of  my  mind  that 
the  natural  must  in  all  cases  be  superior  to  the  artifi- 
cial. I  cannot  escape  from  the  belief  that  the  man 
who  lives  in  closest  touch  with  nature,  other  things  being 
equal,  will  be  the  best  man  and  have  the  broadest  view 
of  human  life,  human  activity  and  human  destiny. 

THE    FABMEB   OF    THE    FUTURE. 

The  farmer  of  the  future,  if  he  develops  in  accord- 
ance with  the  views  which  I  have  tried  to  express,  will 
be  the  leader  of  thought,  the  expounder  of  the  true  phi- 
losophy, and  the  conserver  of  wholesome  politics  for  the 
nation.  When  I  go  on  the  East  Side  of  New  York 
and  look  upon  human  life  as  it  exists  in  those  crowded 
tenements,  and  upon  human  activity  as  it  goes  from  the 
dingy  rooms  of  the  tenement  house  to  the  seething  heat 
of  the  factory,  without  a  glimpse  of  the  sky  or  a  patch 
of  green,  I  despair  of  the  country.  I  cannot  conceive 
of  this  country  prospering  and  growing  and  leading 
nations  when  peopled  by  those  who  live  in  such  an  en- 
vironment. On  the  contrary,  when  I  go  into  the  peace- 
ful regions  of  country  life  and  look  upon  the  farmer 
at  the  plow,  or  in  the  garden,  or  in  the  forest,  when  I 
see  nature  springing  into  bounteous  life  in  May  and 


PLACE  OF  THE  FARMER  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE        91 

yielding  an  equally  bounteous  harvest  in  October,  I 
then  have  faith  in  the  future. 

This  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons  why  I  would  make 
the  country  more  attractive  than  the  city,  so  that  coun- 
try life  would  be  the  ambition,  the  very  highest  ambi- 
tion, of  the  American  citizen.  In  such  a  condition  of 
affairs  I  see  no  danger  to  the  institutions  of  our  land. 
On  the  contrary,  I  see  those  foundations  which  are 
eternal  and  on  which  the  permanent  civil  structure  of 
government  can  be  erected.  I  see  a  land  of  peace,  and 
yet  of  positive  action ;  a  land  of  plenty,  and  yet  not  one 
of  luxury ;  a  land  of  contentment,  instead  of  a  seething 
mass  of  strikes,  turmoils  and  emeutes.  I  see  no  one 
class  of  our  people  arrayed  against  another,  but  all  of 
our  people  in  one  class,  namely,  patriotic  citizens,  each 
in  his  way  striving  for  the  benefit  of  himself,  his  fam- 
ily and  his  native  country.  I  do  not  see  the  struggle  of 
one  class  against  another  to  wrest  the  activities  of  the 
government  I  do  not  see  a  president  elected  because 
he  is  a  farmer,  a  lawyer,  a  laboring  man,  a  minister 
of  the  gospel,  or  a  college  professor.  But  I  see  a  coun- 
try where  those  who  occupy  the  offices  are  the  true  serv- 
ants of  the  people  whom  they  serve,  and  who  are  ele- 
vated to  the  positions  they  occupy  solely  upon  indi- 
vidual merit,  and  not  by  reason  of  class  affiliation. 
Such  a  condition  as  this  is  the  one  which  we  all  should 
strive  to  attain.  To  do  this  agriculture  must  be  made 
more  attractive.  The  great  cities  must  be  to  a  certain 
extent  depopulated,  and  the  people  of  our  country  must 
live  nearer  to  nature. 


XIII 

THE  FARMER'S  MARKET 

IT  is  important  that  crops  should  be  grown,  and  in  a 
profitable  manner.  The  good  farmer  not  only  in- 
creases from  year  to  year  the  magnitude  of  his  crop, 
but  leaves  to  his  heir  a  more  fertile  field  than  he  found. 
Any  system  of  agriculture,  which  leaves  an  impover- 
ished field,  is  essentially  immoral  as  well  as  unprofit- 
able. A  farmer  not  only  needs  food  and  clothing  for 
himself  and  family,  but  he  of  necessity  must  sell  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  his  products.  Taxes  are  to  be  paid, 
improvements  made,  articles  not  grown  on  the  farm 
purchased,  and  something  put  by  for  a  rainy  day. 

Theoretically  a  farmer  should  sell  those  things  which 
do  not  carry  off  with  them  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 
Ideal  things  to  be  sold  are  cotton,  butter  and  sugar. 
These  agricultural  products  do  not  carry  with  them 
any  appreciable  quantity  of  plant  food.  A  farmer 
might  sell  a  million  tons  of  sugar  and  not  carry  a  ton 
of  plant  food  away  from  his  farm.  He  can  do  almost 
as  well  selling  cotton  and  butter.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  he  sells  milk,  wheat,  Indian  corn  and  hay,  or 
when  he  drives  away  from  his  farm  flocks  and  herds, 
he  carries  away  large  quantities  of  potash,  phosphorus 
and  nitrogen.  In  other  words  he  sells  plant  foods,  and 
these  have  to  be  restored  to  the  soil  in  some  form  or 
other. 

It  is  not  quite  possible  for  farmers  to  sell  only  the 

92 


THE  FARMER'S  MARKET  93 

ideal  substances  mentioned  above.  He  necessarily 
must  dispose  of  other  things,  else  the  rest  of  the  world 
would  starve.  Therefore  we  must  face  with  philo- 
sophic resignation  the  yearly  necessity  of  disposing  of 
the  very  cream  of  our  fields.  In  doing  this  does  the 
farmer  have  a  fair  chance  ?  I  think  the  answer  is  em- 
phatically "  No." 

The  reasons  of  the  disadvantages  in  which  the  farmer 
finds  himself  are  not  hard  to  find.  First  is  his  pitiful 
degree  of  isolation.  When  a  farmer  approaches  the 
market  he  goes  out  singly,  as  a  soldier  would  by  himself 
to  battle.  The  result  is  that  he  becomes  the  victim  of 
every  organized  form  of  greed.  On  the  contrary,  when 
he  buys  anything,  he  buys  of  an  organized  industry, 
which  knows  how  to  protect  its  product  and  secure  the 
highest  price.  The  farmer's  market,  therefore,  is  tied 
at  both  ends.  The  pitiable  helplessness  of  the  farmer 
in  the  market  ties  his  end  of  it;  the  organized  fore- 
sight of  the  market  from  which  he  buys,  ties  the  other 
end.  The  result  of  both  of  these  restrictions  is  that 
the  farmer  does  not  get  a  fair  share  of  the  money  that  is 
expended  finally  for  his  products. 

It  is  difficult,  of  course,  to  determine  what  the  final 
expenditure  is ;  in  other  words,  what  the  consumer  pays 
for  bread,  meat,  fruit,  vegetables  and  clothing,  the 
things  the  fanner  produces.  Of  one  thing  we  may  be 
certain,  and  that  is  that  the  final  price  which  is  paid 
is  many  times  higher  than  what  the  farmer  gets.  No 
one  complains  of  this  condition  of  affairs.  It  costs 
money  to  bring  the  farmer's  products  to  the  consumer's 
home,  and  that  cost,  with  a  fair  profit  thereon,  is  a 
legitimate  tax  upon  the  farmer's  products,  paid  partly 
by  the  consumer  and  contributed  partly  by  the  farmer. 
Too  many  middlemen  spoil  the  farmers'  broth. 


94  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

THE  NECESSITY  OP  TRAFSPOBTATION  FACILITIES. 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  denounce  the  railway  for 
proper  charges,  nor  the  necessary  middleman  for  rea- 
sonable profits.  When  I  send  a  bushel  of  flour  from 
my  farm  fifty  miles  away  to  Washington  and  pay 
twelve  cents  freight,  I  do  not  consider  that  I  am  robbed ; 
but  when  I  pay  the  city  transportation  company  seventy- 
five  cents  to  deliver  that  package  at  my  house,  I  am 
robbed,  but  the  railroad  is  not  the  robber.  If  I  offer 
my  goods  for  sale  to  a  middle  party  and  he  charges  me 
six  per  cent,  commission,  if  he  gives  me  an  honest  deal 
I  do  not  consider  that  I  have  been  defrauded.  When 
I  sell  my  product  to  the  buyer  and  he  re-sells  it  the 
next  day  at  a  profit  of  thirty  per  cent.,  I  am  robbed. 
He  makes  more  in  a  day  out  of  my  year's  work  than  I 
make  in  a  year. 

It  is  easy  to  state  the  conditions  of  trade,  but  it  is 
not  by  any  means  so  easy  to  suggest  a  better  way  therein. 
I  can  best  illustrate  by  transactions  which  I  have  just 
had.  The  small  farmer  is  in  no  position  to  ship  his 
beef  cattle  to  a  market  and  take  the  chances  of  their 
sale.  He  is  not  a  large  enough  dealer  to  know  how  to 
protect  even  his  own  interests,  and  the  farmer  with  his 
cattle  on  the  market  far  from  home  is  at  the  mercy  of 
the  bidder. 

The  practice  in  my  part  of  the  country  is  as  follows : 
When  the  beef  cattle  are  ready  for  the  market  you  are 
visited  by  a  number  of  buyers.  As  they  look  over  your 
stock  of  cattle,  they  shoot  it  full  of  holes.  This  steer 
is  too  slender  in  the  flank,  the  next  has  a  sway  back,  the 
third  shows  its  ribs  too  plainly,  and  the  fourth  and  fifth 
have  grave  defects.  In  fact,  the  beautiful  herd  of  cat- 
tle that  you  so  admired  before  the  buyer  came  along, 


THE  FARMER'S  MARKET  95 

shrivels  up  in  your  sight  so  that  you  feel  ashamed  of 
owning  it  before  he  gets  through  his  criticisms.  Of 
course  these  criticisms  are  far  from  being  true,  but  not 
being  an  expert  yourself,  you  do  not  know  how  to  meet 
them.  He  asks  you  a  price  and  you  name  what  you 
think  you  should  have  and  no  more.  He  names,  in  re- 
ply, a  price  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent  less.  You  be- 
come a  helpless  victim  to  his  critical  study  of  your 
herd.  You  refuse  his  offer.  Another  buyer  comes  and 
the  same  program  is  enacted.  Even  a  third  or  fourth 
may  come.  By  this  time  you  realize  that  you  are  help- 
less. You  must  either  take  the  chances  of  shipping 
the  cattle  yourself  and  thus  becoming  a  helpless  victim 
far  from  home,  or  of  surrendering  at  discretion.  You 
will  find  so  little  difference  in  the  various  offers  that 
you  are  almost  led  to  believe  that  the  buyers  are  in  a 
trust  and  are  leagued  together  for  the  purpose  of  forc- 
ing the  price  down. 

In  the  particular  instance  to  which  I  refer,  my  steers 
were  of  a  very  fine  quality.  They  weighed  even  heavier 
than  I  had  anticipated,  having  an  average  weight  of 
1,315  pounds.  In  Chicago  on  the  day  that  I  sold  my 
cattle,  steers  of  this  weight  were  selling  at  from  8.75 
to  9.25  cents  a  pound.  A  thousand  miles  east  of  Chi- 
cago the  market  would  naturally  be  higher.  For  in- 
stance, in  an  untied  market  like  that  of  wheat,  where 
the  standard  price  is  well  known,  the  price  per  bushel 
in  Baltimore  is  from  4  to  6  cents  higher  than  in  Chi- 
cago. On  the  twelfth  of  September,  when  I  sold  my 
fat  cattle,  I  should  have  received  a  higher  price  than 
9  cents  a  pound.  In  point  of  fact,  I  sold  one  steer  for 
8  cents  a  pound  and  32  for  7%o  cents  per  pound.  Of 
course  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  what  profit  the 
broker  made  on  these  steers,  but  it  seems  perfectly  cer- 


96  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

tain  to  me  that,  knowing  the  market  and  understanding 
how  to  pull  all  the  strings,  he  must  have  made  from  4  to 
26  dollars  a  head  on  each  one  of  them.  How  I  wish  I 
could  have  heard  him  when  he  came  to  sell  them !  Those 
very  steers,  so  deformed,  so  spavined,  so  thin  of  shank 
and  sharp  of  back,  blossomed  out  into  fully  rounded, 
perfectly  formed,  top  of  the  market  cattle,  when  pre- 
sented to  the  butcher  at  the  shambles ! 

A  more  striking  example  was  that  of  the  sheep  which 
I  disposed  of  on  the  same  day.  The  buyer  would  not 
buy  the  sheep  outright,  but  said  he  would  sell  them  for 
me  on  commission.  I  had  to  pay  for  loading  them  on 
the  cars,  and  for  this  purpose  had  to  keep  two  men  a 
whole  day  waiting  for  a  car.  In  addition  to  that,  how- 
ever, I  was  charged  at  the  rate  of  $40  a  ton  for  hay  that 
was  fed  them  in  transit.  Forty  dollars  a  ton  for  hay 
that  I  would  gladly  sell  at  the  present  market  price  for 
$15  a  ton,  shows  just  about  the  difference  between  the 
farmer's  market  when  he  buys  and  the  farmer's  market 
when  he  sells.  Of  the  sheep  sold,  17  were  lambs,  for 
which  I  got  6  cents  a  pound;  88  were  yearling  ewes  in 
fine  condition,  for  which  I  got  $4.50  a  hundred  pounds; 
45  were  old  ewes,  for  which  I  got  $3.12^/2  a  hundred 
pounds.  As  a  farmer,  if  I  should  go  to  the  market  and 
buy  the  lamb  chops,  or  the  legs  of  mutton,  from  all  ex- 
cept the  45  old  ewes,  I  would  pay  from  18  to  30  cents 
a  pound  for  the  meat.  These  are  conditions  which  are 
intolerable,  and  yet  which  I  do  not  know  how  to  remedy. 
You  can  imagine  from  this  recital  that  sheep  growing 
for  mutton  purposes  is  not  a  very  pronounced  success.  I 
feel  certain  that  my  own  experience  is  that  of  the  great 
majority  of  farmers.  If  the  farmer  by  chance  can  get 
in  touch  with  the  maker  of  the  goods  he  buys,  he  has  to 
pay  the  local  agent  a  commission. 


Photo  by  U.  S.  L>ept. 


-»f  Agriculture 

RAVAGES    OF    THE    SAN    JOSE    SCALE 
Lime-sulphur  spraying  outfit 


Photo  by  U  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture 

SPRAYING    OUTFIT    AND    MIXING    PLATFORM 


THE  FARMER'S  MARKET  97 

WHAT   PER   CENT.    DOES    THE    FARMER   GET? 

I  do  not  believe  that  fanners  are  entitled  to  more 
than  they  ought  to  have,  but  there  is  a  huge  gap  in  most 
of  the  necessities  of  life  between  the  farmer's  selling 
price  and  the  consumer's  paving  price.  Perhaps  an 
illustration  which  will  be  best  understood  is  that  of 
milk.  The  farmer  in  my  part  of  the  community  gets 
about  14  cents  a  gallon  for  his  summer  milk,  the  rail- 
way charges,  perhaps,  are  not  to  exceed  2  cents  a  gallon. 
Good  milk  sells  at  retail  in  the  city  of  Washington  for 
40  cents,  common  milk  for  36  cents  and  certified  milk 
at  80  cents  a  gallon.  A  simple  computation  will  show 
that  the  farmer  who  spends  all  of  his  time  and  his  talent 
in  producing  ordinary  milk,  gets  33  per  cent,  of  the 
price  the  consumer  pays  for  his  product.  The  capital 
invested  in  a  milk  distributing  plant  is  extremely  small 
as  compared  with  the  capital  invested  in  a  farm  and 
dairy.  The  milk  distributor  turns  his  money  over  every 
day ;  the  farmer  gets  one  profit  for  the  year. 

The  picture  indeed  is  dark,  but  there  are  some  bright 
spots  in  it.  The  farmer  who  sells  wheat  gets  a  much 
larger  part  of  the  consumer's  price  than  the  farmer 
who  sells  milk  or  cattle.  In  other  words,  the  price  of 
flour  is  not  by  any  means  70  per  cent,  higher  than  the 
price  of  wheat,  but  this  peculiar  thing  happens  to  the 
farmers  in  my  vicinity  in  regard  to  wheat.  Loudoun 
County,  Virginia,  is  a  great  producer  of  wheat  and 
corn.  As  a  rule  the  wheat  is  rushed  into  market  soon 
after  it  is  thrashed,  or  within  a  short  time  thereafter. 
As  soon  as  the  wheat  crop  is  on  the  market  there  is  al- 
ways a  very  decided  fall  in  prices.  A  tenant  on  one 
of  my  farms  last  year  sold  his  wheat  for  84  cents  a 
bushel ;  I  kept  my  wheat,  of  no  better  quality,  three  or 


98  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

four  months  and  sold  it  for  $1.04  a  bushel,  20  cents 
more  than  my  tenant  received. 

But  this  is  not  the  most  striking  illustration  of  bad 
management  on  the  part  of  the  farmer  in  handling  his 
markets.  Not  only  do  they  sell  their  wheat,  but  they 
sell  it  all,  and  before  the  next  harvest  begins  they  are 
buying  flour.  I  have  repeatedly  seen  packages  of  flour 
in  the  village  having  come  as  far  as  from  Minnesota. 
The  miller  at  Bluemont  tells  me  that  in  the  spring  he 
orders  wheat  from  the  Northwest  to  grind  to  fill  the 
local  demand.  Thus,  in  the  autumn  almost  all  the 
wheat  in  the  country  is  shipped  out,  and  in  the  spring 
the  necessary  supplies  for  the  farmers'  uses  are  shipped 
back.  This  catches  the  farmer  coming  and  catches  him 
going. 

THE   FINAL   EESULT. 

The  obvious  conclusion  from  this  brief  statement  of 
the  fundamentally  wrong  conditions  of  the  market  is 
that  in  all  matters  controlled  by  trusts  the  farmer  has 
no  show  at  all.  For  instance,  the  meat  markets  of  this 
country  are  in  the  hands  of  a  few  individuals  and  the 
farmer  sells  his  meat  at  a  forced  low  price.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  wheat  markets  of  the  country  are  too 
large  to  be  controlled  by  a  trust,  and  the  farmer  gets  a 
fair  market  price  for  his  wheat. 

It  would  hardly  be  fair  to  go  into  these  details  with- 
out some  suggestion  of  a  constructive  nature.  The 
most  obvious  fact,  as  I  see  it,  is  that  the  farmer  will 
never  come  into  his  full  rights  in  the  market  until  he  is 
thoroughly  organized.  I  say  this  with  a  full  knowledge 
of  the  financial  shipwrecks  which  usually  attend  any 
ventures  at  cooperation,  and  yet  successful  cooperation 
is  the  only  way  to  meet  successful  organization. 


THE  FARMER'S  MARKET  99 

The  neighborhood  warehouse  for  any  non-perishable 
goods  such  as  cereals,  seems  to  me  to  be  one  avenue  that 
is  open;  but  unfortunately  such  a  warehouse  would 
only  contain  those  things  in  the  sale  of  which  the  farmer 
suffers  least.  How  shall  the  farmer  control  the  mar- 
ket for  his  live  stock  used  for  food  purposes  ?  That  is 
the  most  difficult  problem.  The  products  of  the  farm 
must  go  to  the  consumer.  One  possible  way,  if  it  could 
be  adopted,  would  be  to  have  the  farmers  of  a  county 
establish  a  market  in  the  city  where  they  could  sell 
directly  to  the  consumer.  I  know  the  dangers  of  such 
an  undertaking,  the  difficulties  of  securing  the  proper 
men,  the  dangers  of  financial  stress  and  loss,  the  lack 
of  business  sagacity  which  the  representative  of  the 
farmer  might  display,  the  opportunities  for  peculation 
and  theft,  and  in  fact  a  whole  array  of  difficulties  which 
can  be  easily  stated  and  which  are  without  doubt  threat- 
ening; but  at  least  in  such  an  organization  there  could 
be  a  cold  storage  warehouse,  and  the  farmer  would  not 
be  so  completely  under  the  thumb  of  the  trust  and  the 
manipulator. 


XIV 

THE  FARMER  AND  THE  PARCEL  POST 

OK  the  Pennsylvania  Railway  en  route  from  Phila- 
delphia to  Washington,  on  the  twenty-second  of 
June,  1914,  I  fell  into  conversation  with  a  gentleman 
who  owns  a  farm  twelve  miles  from  Fredericksburg, 
Virginia.  Gossiping  about  the  various  things  con- 
nected with  farm  life,  I  discovered  that  he  had  estab- 
lished a  small  dairy.  He  told  me  he  had  been  North 
to  examine  various  appliances  looking  to  the  shipment 
of  dairy  products  by  parcel  post.  Living,  as  he  does, 
twelve  miles  from  the  railway  station,  the  daily  deliv- 
ery of  milk  for  consumption  in  Fredericksburg,  Rich- 
mond, or  Washington,  is  a  task  of  great  magnitude. 
The  idea  which  was  in  his  mind  was  that  if  he  could 
ship  cream  by  parcel  post,  he  might  secure  a  profitable 
market  for  his  dairy  products  and  at  the  same  time 
retain  the  skimmed  milk  for  feeding  to  pigs  and  young 
calves. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  shipment  of  cream  to 
butter  factories  in  the  large  cities  —  there  are  none 
other  in  this  part  of  the  country  —  is  altogether  un- 
profitable to  the  farmer.  At  the  prices  which  are  paid, 
which  at  the  best  amount  to  about  twenty-four  or 
twenty-five  cents  per  pound  of  butter-fat,  the  farmer 
cannot  make  expenses.  It  requires  nearly  twenty-five 
pounds  of  milk  to  make  one  pound  of  butter-fat,  and 

this  amounts  to  only  a  little  over  a  cent  a  pound  for 

100 


THE  FARMER  AND  THE  PARCEL  POST  101 

the  milk.  It  is  true  that  the  skimmed  milk  is  still 
available  for  the  farmer's  use,  but  the  price  of  skimmed 
milk  does  not  exceed,  as  a  rule,  a  quarter  of  a  cent  a 
pound.  Thus,  for  twenty-five  pounds  of  milk  the 
farmer  at  most  could  not  get  more  than  thirty  cents. 
A  cow  giving  twenty-five  pounds  of  milk  will  require 
fully  twenty  cents'  worth  of  food  per  day.  Add  to  this 
the  care  of  the  animal,  interest  on  the  investment,  de- 
preciation and  charge  of  shipping,  and  the  farmer 
comes  out  in  debt  every  day. 

If,  however,  the  fanner  could  secure,  through  the 
parcel  post,  a  clientele  for  his  butter  or  his  cream,  he 
would  be  able  to  pay  expenses  and  even  make  a  small 
profit  The  retail  price  of  good  creamery  butter  in 
Washington  averages  about  thirty-five  cents  the  year 
around.  Creamery  butter  is  only  82  per  cent,  butter- 
fat.  Twenty-five  pounds  of  milk  would  make  almost 
one  and  a  quarter  pounds  of  butter,  and  this,  at  the 
price  mentioned  above,  would  bring  a  gross  income  of 
about  forty-four  cents  for  the  twenty-five  pounds  of 
milk,  and  still  leave  the  food  value  of  the  milk  for  the 
farmer's  use. 

Inquiring  further  as  to  what  result  had  come  from 
his  visit,  he  said  that  he  had  found  a  paper  package 
guaranteed  to  be  acceptable  to  the  parcel  post,  which 
could  be  had  in  large  quantities  at  a  very  cheap  rate, 
probably  not  over  three  or  four  cents  for  a  gallon  pack- 
age. A  gallon  of  cream,  however,  is  too  much  to  send 
to  any  individual  customer  other  than  a  restaurant  or 
a  hotel.  The  maximum  cream  package  for  general  use 
among  families  would  probably  not  hold  over  four 
pounds.  Cream  properly  chilled  and  sent  promptly  by 
parcel  post,  and  on  arrival  placed  in  cold  storage,  can 
easily  be  kept  two  or  even  three  days  without  pasteuriza- 


102          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

tion.  If  well  pasteurized  it  might  keep  even  longer 
than  this.  In  such  conditions  the  sending  of  a  package 
of  cream  by  parcel  post  to  a  family  of  somewhat  large 
size  would  be  commercially  practical. 

The  package  of  course  would  not  be  used  again,  and 
that  seems  to  be  the  unfortunate  part  of  it.  Even  if 
it  were  a  permanent  package,  the  return  would 
cost  a  great  deal,  because  the  initial  price  for  the 
first  pound  by  the  parcel  post  is  quite  high  com- 
pared with  the  prices  for  larger  weights.  In  shipping 
cream  by  parcel  post,  also,  a  very  concentrated  article 
would  be  produced,  known  as  double  cream,  containing 
about  forty  per  cent,  of  butter-fat.  The  production 
of  such  cream  with  a  good  centrifugal  separator  is 
easily  accomplished.  One  pound  of  this  kind  of  cream 
would  therefore  be  equal  to  two  pounds  of  ordinary 
twenty  per  cent,  cream.  The  sending  of  butter,  of 
course,  by  parcel  post  is  a  much  simpler  proposition. 
The  package  itself  could  be  cheaper,  and  the  keeping 
quality  of  the  product  is  such  that  a  family  could  easily 
take  five  pounds  at  a  time  and  have  practically  fresh 
butter  every  week.  Even  certified  milk,  in  a  suitable 
container,  might  be  sent  by  parcel  post. 

EABLY  SUCCESS  NOT  EXPECTED. 

The  success  of  the  parcel  post  as  a  means  of  com- 
munication between  producer  and  consumer  cannot  be 
expected  to  be  very  brilliant  at  the  start.  There  are 
many  incident  problems  which  can  only  be  worked  out 
in  the  light  of  practical  experience.  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral Burleson  is  very  much  in  earnest  in  making  the 
parcel  post  an  efficient  means  of  communication  be- 
tween farmer  and  consumer.  In  this  effort  he  should 
have  the  undivided  support  of  all  citizens,  except  those 


THE  FARMER  AND  THE  PARCEL  POST  103 

engaged  as  middlemen  in  the  distribution  of  food 
products. 

The  postmaster  at  Washington  has  hit  upon  a  unique 
plan  for  bringing  to  the  notice  of  the  consumers  the 
names  of  farmers  who  are  willing  to  engage  in  the 
parcel  post  business  for  agricultural  products.  To  this 
end  the  public  library  of  Washington  has  been  secured 
as  a  means  of  publicity.  There  is  posted  in  the  public 
library  a  list  of  farmers  within  the  first  and  second 
zones,  that  is,  up  to  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  who  are  willing  to  come  into  contact  with  con- 
sumers in  the  city  of  Washington  in  the  shipment  of 
food  products.  Any  intending  consumer  who  wishes 
to  get  in  touch  with  farmers  can  get  their  names  and 
addresses  in  the  public  library. 

The  postmaster  at  Washington  has  also  prepared  a 
circular  to  send  to  intending  shippers,  giving  instruc- 
tions to  the  farmers  as  to  how  the  particular  product  in 
question  is  to  be  prepared  and  packed  for  shipment. 
Also,  there  is  posted  a  list  of  manufacturers  of  packing 
boxes  and  containers  for  the  shipment  of  farm  products 
by  parcel  post,  and  this  is  also  made  available  to  the 
farmers  in  order  that  they  may  secure  the  proper  kind 
of  packages  for  their  use.  In  addition  to  this,  a 
special  delivery  system  has  been  devised,  so  that  prod- 
ucts which  come  into  the  city  by  morning  shipments 
may  be  distributed  at  once  to  the  consumer,  without 
lying  over  for  hours  waiting  for  the  ordinary  delivery 
to  take  place.  In  fact,  the  Postoffice  Department  has 
done  everything  possible,  in  so  far  as  knowledge  of  the 
problem  extends,  to  inaugurate  a  service  which  will  be 
of  a  practical  character,  and  which  promises  to  develop 
into  a  system  of  mutual  benefit  to  consumer  and  to 
fanner. 


104  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

DIFFICULTIES    TO    BE    OVERCOME. 

It  would  be  idle  to  minimize  the  difficulties  which 
have  to  be  surmounted.  The  ordinary  farmer  has  no 
skill  whatever  in  packing  products  for  transportation. 
The  parcel  post  will  therefore  be  flooded  with  articles 
improperly  packed  which  cannot  be  legally  carried, 
and  which  will  be  left  at  the  depots  of  transmission 
unshipped  until  the  owners  can  call  and  take  them 
away.  My  own  experience  in  transmitting  food  prod- 
ucts by  parcel  post,  before  the  present  arrangement 
referred  to  went  into  execution,  illustrates  this  difficulty. 
I  desired  to  send  some  white  clover  honey  produced  near 
my  farm  in  Loudoun  County  to  a  friend  in  New  York 
City.  It  was  comb-honey,  well  preserved,  and  was 
packed  as  well  as  I  knew  how,  so  as  to  avoid  damage 
and  leakage.  It  started  on  its  journey  from  Bluemont, 
Virginia,  to  New  York  City.  When  it  reached  Wash- 
ington it  was  found  that  the  honey  had  begun  to  leak 
out.  The  package  was  withdrawn  from  the  mails,  and 
I  was  notified  that  it  could  not  be  sent  any  further. 
This  is  only  a  type  of  the  difficulties  of  properly  pre- 
paring an  article  for  shipment,  by  those  unskilled  in  the 
art  of  packing,  which  will  have  to  be  surmounted. 

In  the  next  place,  the  consumer  will  have  to  order 
blindly.  He  will  have  no  opportunity  of  inspecting 
the  products  he  purchases  before  they  are  bought. 
This,  however,  is  a  difficulty  which  will  be  overcome 
by  natural  causes.  The  farmer  who  ships  imperfect 
or  improperly  prepared  food  products  will  at  once  lose 
his  customers.  Therefore  it  is  self-preservation  on  his 
part  to  ship  only  articles  of  good  quality  and  in  prime 
condition.  Both  consignee  and  farmer  must  be  helpful 
and  patient  until  normal  working  conditions  are  secured. 


THE  FARMER  AND  THE  PARCEL  POST  105 

HELPFUL    AI>VIOB    FBOM    THE    POST    OFFICE   DEPART- 
MENT. 

A  few  quotations  from  the  circulars  sent  out  by  the 
Postoffice  Department  will  more  fully  indicate  the  pur- 
pose which  is  kept  in  view  and  the  methods  of  success- 
fully securing  it.  Under  the  caption  "  Producer  and 
Consumer  to  be  Brought  into  Closer  Touch,"  the  Post- 
office  Department  says: 

The  Postoffice  Department  desires  to  increase  the  usefulness 
to  the  public  of  the  Parcel  Post  by  bringing  the  consumer  and 
producer  in  closer  touch.  Therefore  it  invites  all  farmers  who 
desire  to  sell  and  ship  country  produce  by  parcel  post  direct 
to  the  consumer  to  send  their  names  and  addresses  by  mail  to 
"  Postmaster,  Washington,  D.  C.,  Produce  List."  Tell  what 
you  have  for  sale.  A  postal  card  may  be  used  for  the  pur- 
pose. When  a  sufficient  number  of  names  are  received  they 
will  be  printed  and  distributed  to  persons  who  would  likely 
make  use  of  such  lists.  The  Washington  Public  Library,  Mount 
Vernon  Square,  Washington,  D.  C.,  has  announced  its  willing- 
ness to  cooperate  with  the  farmers  and  producers  in  bringing 
them  in  direct  touch  with  the  city  consumers,  and  to  this  end 
will  receive  and  post  on  the  bulletin  board  in  the  library  the 
prices  at  which  farmers  and  others  will  sell  their  butter,  eggs, 
or  other  produce  by  parcel  post. 

It  is  also  announced  that  parcels  which  weigh  over 
twenty  pounds  will  be  carried*  separately,  outside  of 
mail  bags,  thus  insuring  more  care  and  less  damage  to 
other  mail  matter,  should  accident  happen.  The  size 
and  weight  of  parcels  are  prescribed  as  follows : 

Packages  for  the  parcel  post  must  not  measure  more  than 
72  inches  in  length  and  girth  combined  and  must  not  weigh 
more  than  50  pounds  when  addressed  to  a  person  within  the 
first  or  second  zones,  or  a  distance  of  not  more  than  about  150 
miles.  If  the  package  to  be  shipped  is  to  go  more  than  150 
miles,  or  beyond  the  second  zone,  it  must  not  weigh  more  than 


106  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

20  pounds.  The  postmaster  or  the  mail  carrier  who  will  receive 
your  package  for  mailing,  will  give  you  any  further  informa- 
tion you  may  desire  about  the  rates  and  manner  of  packing 
your  parcels. 

In  the  information  sent  to  farmers  the  following  im- 
portant items  are  noted: 

Preparation  for  Mailing. —  Farmers  intending  to  ship  farm 
products  in  considerable  quantities  should  submit  to  the  post- 
master at  their  local  post  office  for  approval,  a  specimen  parcel 
showing  the  manner  of  packing.  Parcels  containing  perishable 
articles  should  be  marked  "  PERISHABLE."  Articles  likely 
to  spoil  within  the  time  reasonably  required  for  transportation 
and  delivery  will  not  be  accepted  for  mailing. 

Butter,  lard  and  perishable  articles  such  as  fish,  fresh  meats, 
dressed  fowls,  vegetables,  fruits,  berries,  and  articles  of  a 
similar  nature  which  decay  quickly,  when  so  packed  or  wrapped 
as  to  prevent  damage  to  other  mail  matter,  shall  be  accepted 
for  local  delivery  either  at  the  office  of  mailing  or  on  any  rural 
route  starting  therefrom.  When  inclosed  in  an  inner  cover 
and  a  strong  outer  cover  of  wood,  metal,  heavy  corrugated 
pasteboard,  or  other  suitable  material,  and  wrapped  so  that 
nothing  can  escape  from  the  package,  they  will  be  accepted  for 
mailing  to  all  offices  to  which  in  the  ordinary  course  of  mail 
they  can  be  sent  without  spoiling. 

Butter,  dressed  fowls,  vegetables,  fruits  and  other  perishable 
articles  in  parcels  weighing  more  than  twenty  pounds  shall  be 
accepted  for  mailing  to  offices  in  the  first  and  second  zones 
when  suitably  wrapped  or  inclosed  and  packed  in  crates,  boxes 
or  other  suitable  containers  having  tight  bottoms  to  prevent 
the  escape  of  anything  from  the  package  and  so  constructed  as 
properly  to  protect  the  contents.  All  such  parcels  to  be  trans- 
ported outside  of  mail  bags. 

Vegetables  and  fruits  which  do  not  decay  quickly  will  be  ac- 
cepted for  mailing  to  any  zone  if  packed  so  as  to  prevent  dam- 
age to  other  mail  matter. 

Eggs  shall  be  accepted  for  local  delivery  when  so  packed  in 
a  basket  or  other  container  as  to  prevent  damage  to  other  mail 
matter. 

Eggs  shall  be  accepted  for  mailing  regardless  of  distance 


THE  FARMER  AND  THE  PARCEL  POST  107 

when  each  egg  is  wrapped  separately  and  surrounded  with  ex- 
celsior, cotton  or  other  suitable  material  and  packed  in  a  strong 
container  made  of  double-face  corrugated  pasteboard,  metal, 
wood  or  other  suitable  material  and  wrapped  so  that  nothing 
can  escape  from  the  package.  All  such  parcels  should  be 
labeled  "  EGGS." 

Eggs  in  parcels  weighing  more  than  twenty  pounds  shall  be 
accepted  for  mailing  to  offices  in  the  first  and  second  zones 
when  packed  in  crates,  boxes,  buckets  or  other  containers 
having  tight  bottoms  to  prevent  the  escape  of  anything  from 
the  package  and  so  constructed  as  properly  to  protect  the 
contents.  Such  packages  to  be  marked  "EGGS  —  THIS 
SIDE  UP,"  and  to  be  transported  outside  of  mail  bags. 

Mailable  liquids,  including  preserves,  in  securely  sealed  glass 
bottles  or  metal  cans  shall  be  accepted  for  mailing  when  packed 
in  strong  boxes  and  surrounded  with  other  suitable  substance 
to  prevent  contents  from  breaking.  All  such  packages  to  be 
marked  "  FRAGILE." 

Pastes,  salves,  etc.,  not  easily  liquefiable,  shall  be  accepted 
for  mailing  when  enclosed  in  water-tight  containers  and  placed 
in  a  strong  pasteboard  or  wooden  box. 

Mailable  hides  and  pelts  shall  be  thoroughly  wrapped  to  pre- 
vent grease  soaking  through  the  packing  and  damaging  other 
mail  matter. 

Permissible  Additions. —  You  may  tie  or  otherwise  securely 
attach  a  letter  in  a  sealed  envelope  to  your  parcel  post  package 
if  it  bears  the  same  address  as  the  package,  but  the  letter  must 
have  on  it  the  regular  letter  postage  and  the  parcel  must  have 
on  it  the  proper  amount  of  postage.  It  is  better,  however,  to 
mail  your  letter  and  parcel  separately.  You  may  place  in  the 
parcel  a  printed  circular  describing  the  matter  sent,  and  in- 
close a  printed  or  written  bill  for  the  articles  in  the  parcel. 
Any  other  written  matter,  however,  will  subject  the  whole  pack- 
age to  the  letter  postage  rate.  In  addition  to  the  name  and 
address  of  the  sender,  which  is  required,  it  is  permissible  to 
write  or  print  on  the  covering  of  a  parcel  of  fourth-class 
matter,  or  on  a  tag  or  label  attached  thereto,  the  occupation  of 
the  sender,  and  to  indicate  in  a  small  space  by  means  of  marks, 
letters,  numbers,  names  or  other  brief  description,  the  character 
of  the  parcel,  but  ample  space  must  be  left  for  the  full  ad- 
dress and  for  the  necessary  postage  stamps.  Inscriptions  such 


108  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

as  "  Merry  Christmas,"  "  Please  do  not  open  until  Christmas," 
"  Happy  New  Year,"  "  With  best  Wishes,"  and  the  like,  may 
be  included  inside  or  placed  on  the  covering  of  the  parcel  in 
such  manner  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  address. 

Insurance. —  Parcels  on  which  the  postage  is  fully  prepaid 
may  be  insured  against  loss  in  an  amount  not  exceeding  $25 
on  payment  of  a  fee  of  5  cents,  and  $50  on  payment  of  a  fee 
of  10  cents.  A  return  receipt  will  be  furnished  if  desired. 

Collection  on  Delivery. —  You  may  send  a  package  C.  0.  D. 
by  parcel  post  by  attaching  an  additional  10  cents  in  postage 
on  the  package,  provided  the  amount  to  be  collected  by  the 
post  office  on  the  package  for  you  is  not  more  than  $100,  and 
provided  also  that  the  office  which  mails  the  package  and  the 
one  at  which  it  is  received  are  money  order  offices. 

Time  of  Shipment. —  Your  postmaster  or  rural  carrier  can 
inform  you  when  is  the  best  time  to  ship  parcels  so  as  to  make 
good  connection  and  promptly  reach  the  office  they  are  ad- 
dressed to.  No  delivery  of  parcels  is  made  on  Sundays  unless 
sent  by  special  delivery. 

Special  Delivery. —  Parcels  which  are  fully  postage  paid  will 
be  immediately  delivered  by  the  office  they  are  addressed  to  on 
an  extra  payment  of  10  cents  in  postage  stamps  affixed. 

The  rates  of  transmission  for  the  different  zones  are 
prescribed  as  follows: 

The  rate  of  postage  for  parcel  post  packages  is  given  in  the 
table  here  printed.  The  local  rate  is  applicable  to  parcels  of 
farm  products  intended  for  delivery  at  the  office  of  mailing,  in- 
cluding rural  routes  starting  therefrom. 

The  rate  of  postage  on  fourth-class  matter  (which  includes 
farm  produce)  weighing  not  more  than  four  ounces  is  one  cent 
for  each  ounce  or  fraction  of  an  ounce  regardless  of  distance, 
and  on  such  matter  in  excess  of  four  ounces  in  weight,  the  rate 
is  by  the  pound,  as  follows,  the  postage  in  all  cases  to  be  pre- 
paid by  postage  stamps  affixed: 


ZONES 


WEIGHT 

Local 
delivery 

o 
a 

m 

•.— 

2d.  50  to 
150  miles 

3d.  150  to 
300  miles 

4th.  300  to 
600  miles 

5th.  600  to 
1000  miles 

6th.  1000  to  1 
1400  miles 

7th.  1400  to 
1800  miles 

8th.  All  over 
1800  miles 

1  pounds 

0.05 

0.05 

0.05 

0.06 

0.07 

0.08 

0.09 

0.11 

0.12 

2  pounds 

.06 

.06 

.06 

.08 

.11 

.14 

.17 

.21 

.24 

3  pounds 

.06 

.07 

.07 

.10 

.15 

.20 

.25 

.31 

.36 

4  pounds 

.07 

.08 

.08 

.12 

.19 

.26 

.33 

.41 

.48 

5  pounds 

.07 

.09 

.09 

.14 

.23 

.32 

.41 

.51 

.60 

6  pounds 

.08 

.10 

.10 

.16 

.27 

.38 

.49 

.61 

.72 

7  pounds 

.08 

.11 

.11 

.18 

.31 

.44 

.57 

.71 

.84 

8  pounds 

.09 

.12 

.12 

.20 

.35 

.50 

.65 

.81 

.96 

9  pounds 

.09 

.13 

.13 

.22 

.39 

.56 

.73 

.91 

1.08 

10  pounds     .  .  . 

.10 

.14 

.14 

.24 

.43 

.62 

.81 

1.01 

1.20 

11  pounds 

.10 

.15 

.15 

.26 

.47 

.68 

.89 

1.11 

1.32 

12  pounds 

.11 

.16 

.16 

.28 

.51 

.74 

.97 

1.21 

1.44 

13  pounds 

.11 

.17 

.17 

.30 

.55 

.80 

1.05 

1.31 

1.56 

14  pounds 

.12 

.18 

.18 

.32 

.59 

.86 

.1.13 

1.41 

1.68 

15  pounds 

.12 

.19 

.19 

.84 

.63 

.92 

1.21 

1.51 

1.80 

16  pounds 

.13 

.20 

.20 

.36 

.67 

.98 

1.29 

1.61 

1.92 

17  pounds 

.13 

.21 

.21 

.38 

.71 

1.04 

1.37 

1.71 

2.04 

18  pounds 

.14 

.22 

.22 

.40 

.75 

1.10 

1.45 

1.81 

2.16 

19  pouuds 

.14 

.23 

.23 

.42 

.79 

1.16 

1.53 

1.91 

2.28 

20  pounds      .  .  . 

.15 
.15 

.24 

25 

.24 
25 

.44 

.83 

1.22 

1.61 

2.01 

2.40 

2X   pounds      •  .  • 
22  pounds     .  .  . 

!26 

23  pounds 

!l6 

.27 

127 

24  pounds     .  .  . 

.17 

.28 

.28 

25  pounds 

.17 

.29 

.29 

• 

26  pounds      .  .  . 

.18 

.80 

.80 

27  pounds     .  .  . 

.18 

.31 

.31 

28  pounds 

.19 

.32 

.32 

29  pounds 
80  pounds     .  .  . 

.19 
.20 

.33 
.84 

.83 
.34 

Send  your  name  and  address 

81  pounds 

.20 

.85 

.35 

to  the  Postmaster,  Washing- 

32 pounds     .  .  . 
83  pounds     .  .  . 

.21 
.21 

.36 
.37 

.86 
.87 

ton,  D.  C.,  if  you  want  to  sell 

34  pounds     .  .  . 

.22 

.38 

.38 

35  pounds     .  .  . 

.22 

.39 

.39 

your  produce  by  Parcel  Post, 

36  pounds     .  .  . 
87  pounds 

.28 

.23 

.40 
.41 

.40 
.41 

and  tell  what  you  have  for 

88  pounds     .  .  . 

.24 

.42 

.42 

f 

89  pounds 

.24 

.43 

.43 

sale. 

40  pounds 

.25 

.44 

.44 

41  pounds 

.25 

.45 

.45 

Keep  this  Circular  for  ref- 

42 pounds 

.26 

.46 

.46 

43   pounds     .  .  . 

.26 

.47 

.47 

erence. 

44  pounds     .  .  . 

.27 

.48 

.48 

45  pounds     .  .  . 

.27 

.49 

.49 

46  pounds     .  .  . 

.28 

.50 

.50 

47  pounds 

.28 

.51 

.51 

48  pounds 

.29 

.52 

.52 

49  pounds     .  .  . 

.29 

.53 

.53 

50  pounds 

.80 

.54 

.64 

109 


110  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

The  placards  which  have  been  posted  in  the  public 
library  at  Washington  have  attracted  a  great  deal  of 
attention  from  visitors.  The  Postoffice  Department 
has  also  established  relations  with  existing  organiza- 
tions in  Washington  whose  purpose  is  the  betterment 
of  household  conditions.  Particularly  have  they  es- 
tablished a  system  of  cooperation  with  the  Housekeep- 
ers' Alliance  of  Washington.  In  regard  to  this 
cooperation  the  Postomce  authorities  make  the  follow- 
ing statements: 

It  is  realized  that  the  method  of  shopping,  by  sending  the 
market  basket  direct  to  the  farm,  is  to  some  extent  experimental 
with  both  the  consumer  and  the  farmer,  and  for  this  reason  the 
Housekeepers?  Alliance  of  Washington  has  consented  to  co- 
operate with  the  Washington  Post  Office  to  the  extent  of  try- 
ing out  as  many  farmers  as  possible,  with  the  view  of  deter- 
ming  the  following  points:  First,  whether  the  business  meth- 
ods of  the  farmers  make  it  practicable  to  deal  direct  with  the 
producer;  second,  whether  the  method  of  packing,  character 
of  produce  and  intelligence  shown  in  mailing,  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  city  consumer;  third,  whether  the  transportation 
service  by  the  Post  Office  Department  and  the  Washington  Post 
Office  insures  delivery  of  parcel  post  matter  in  fresh  and  satis- 
factory condition. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  a  fair  determination  of  these  matters 
and  to  be  able  to  render  a  practical  service  to  the  consumers 
of  Washington  generally,  the  Housekeepers'  Alliance  desires 
to  have  sent  to  Committee  on  Cooperation,  Housekeepers'  Al- 
liance, P.  0.  Box  476,  Washington,  D.  C.,  by  postal  card  or 
letter,  a  specific  report  by  any  person  in  the  city  who  has  had 
parcel  post  experience,  answering  the  following  questions: 

(1)  Name  and  address  of  farmer. 

(2)  Articles  purchased  and  prices  paid  for  them. 

(3)  Who  (farmer  or  consumer)  furnished  the  container 
and  how  well  were  the  products  packed. 

(4)  Was  the  farmer's  service  prompt  and  satisfactory. 

(5)  In   what   condition    did   parcels   arrive   and   how 
promptly  were  they  delivered  by  the  post  office. 


THE  FARMER  AND  THE  PARCEL  POST  111 

(6)  Remarks. 

In  order  to  cover  as  many  sections  of  the  country,  as  many 
farmers,  and  as  many  separate  shipments  as  possible,  the 
Housekeepers'  Alliance  will  receive  answers  to  the  foregoing 
questions  from  all  who  desire  to  thus  cooperate  with  it. 

The  organization  will  collate  this  information  and  place  the 
results  before  the  city  consumer,  as  well  as  the  farmer,  for  the 
information  and  guidance  of  each. 

Quotations  by  farmers  for  their  products  will  continue  to 
be  found  posted  on  the  bulletin  board  of  the  Public  Library, 
Mount  Vernon  Square  in  this  city. 

The  purpose  of  this  undertaking  by  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment, with  the  cooperation  of  public-spirited  persons  and  in- 
stitutions, is  to  bring  the  city  consumer  and  country  producer 
together  through  the  facilities  offered  by  the  parcel  post.  This 
consists  of  a  very  simple  proceeding.  After  you  have  written 
to  a  farmer  on  this  list,  or  any  other  farmer  whose  address  you 
have  learned  from  some  acquaintance,  and  have  made  arrange- 
ments as  to  the  price  and  payment  for  the  articles  you  want  to 
buy,  take  a  strong  market  basket  with  a  cover  or  a  double  cor- 
rugated paste-board  mailing  box,  and  send  it  to  the  farmer.  If 
it  weighs  a  pound  it  will  cost  5  cents  to  mail  it  to  the  farmer 
empty ;  if  between  two  and  three  pounds,  it  will  cost  7  cents  to 
maiL  Double  corrugated  shipping  boxes  of  various  types  can 
be  purchased  very  cheaply  from  paper  stores  and  market  sup- 
ply houses  in  Washington. 

When  you  have  found  a  satisfactory  fanner  to  deal  with, 
shopping  by  parcel  post  becomes  a  simple  process  of  sending 
your  market  basket  to  the  farm  with  a  letter  telling  what  you 
want.  The  cost  of  that  process  is  just  a  little  less  than  if  you 
got  on  a  street  car  and  rode  down  town  and  back,  and  just  a 
trifle  more  than  if  you  ordered  what  you  wanted  over  the  tele- 
phone. You  can  mail  your  empty  basket  at  any  drug-store  pos- 
tal station.  The  parcel  post  brings  the  filled  basket  to  your 
door.  This  simple  process  of  sending  an  ordinary,  strong, 
market  basket  to  the  farm  has  been  found  to  be  entirely  satis- 
factory for  shipping  short  distances  —  say  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred miles,  several  such  baskets  now  going  empty  and  returning 
filled  weekly  through  the  Washington  Post  Office. 

Housewives  who  want  to  deal  with  the  farmers  direct  will 
realize  that  sometimes  they  may  not  be  able  to  make  an  entirely 


112  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

satisfactory  arrangement  the  first  trial  any  more  than  they  may 
find  satisfactory  the  first  city  dealer  they  may  try.  Therefore, 
it  may  be  found  advisable  to  select  from  this  list,  at  random, 
the  names  of  three  or  four  farmers  to  write  to,  and  from  the 
replies  pick  out  two  or  three  of  the  more  promising,  give  them 
a  trial,  and  report  results  to  the  Housekeepers'  Alliance. 

Remember  that  it  is  more  economical  to  buy  three  or  four 
dozen  eggs  by  parcel  post  than  one  or  two  dozen,  because  after 
the  first  pound  the  postage  will  cost  the  farmer  only  1  cent  per 
pound.  When  writing  to  the  farmer  for  his  prices,  it  is  well  to 
tell  him  what  the  same  articles  are  costing  in  the  city  market 
at  the  time.  This  is  advisable  because  some  farmers  have  an 
exaggerated  idea  as  to  the  prices  that  city  people  are  willing  to 
pay  for  fresh  country  produce,  whereas,  others  are  entirely 
moderate  and  reasonable.  It  is  also  well  to  direct  the  farmers 
to  mail  the  basket  so  that  it  will  arrive  in  this  city  in  time  for 
delivery  on  the  day  desired.  If  intended  for  Sunday,  it  should 
reach  Washington  not  later  than  Saturday  noon. 

TOO    EARLY    TO    PROPHESY. 

It  is  of  course  too  early  to  make  any  definite 
prophecy  regarding  the  outcome  of  this  experimental 
attempt  to  bring  consumer  and  producer  more  closely 
together.  To  my  mind  it  is  by  far  the  most  promising 
effort  which  has  ever  been  inaugurated.  There  is  a 
distinct  advantage  in  having  a  powerful  agent  like  the 
Postoffice  Department  of  the  United  States  come  as  a 
mediator  between  the  two  warring  factions,  namely, 
consumer  and  producer.  This  is  a  kind  of  mediation 
which  gives  promise  of  really  helpful  results.  If  the 
Postoffice  Department  is  only  patient  and  persistent, 
and  if  the  consumer  and  farmer  are  earnest  in  their 
desire  to  be  brought  into  closer  contact,  and  each  will 
do  his  utmost  to  make  this  contact  agreeable  and  profit- 
able, success  cannot  fail  to  crown  the  work.  Already 
a  business  of  considerable  magnitude  is  doing,  and  it 
is  growing  every  day. 


THE  FARMER  AND  THE  PARCEL  POST  113 

One  fact,  however,  must  be  kept  in  view.  The  trans- 
mission of  very  small  articles,  even  by  parcel  post,  is 
necessarily  more  expensive  from  the  initial  outlay  than 
the  transmission  of  large  quantities  of  food  products 
by  freight  trains.  The  initial  charge  of  five  cents  per 
pound  for  the  first  pound  in  the  package  will  always 
be  a  drawback  to  any  complete  system  of  economy 
where  only  pound  packages  are  required.  In  other 
words  I  may  express  my  view  in  this  manner,  namely, 
that  the  sending  of  a  single  pound  by  parcel  post  is  not 
destined  to  be  a  commercial  success. 

But  the  outlook  is  quite  different  where  a  minimum, 
say,  of  five  pounds  is  ordered  by  each  consumer.  The 
initial  pound  pays  five  cents  in  the  first  and  second 
zones,  and  the  subsequent  pounds  only  a  cent  apiece. 
A  five-pound  package  may,  therefore,  come  to  the  con- 
sumer at  a  cost  of  transportation  of  nine  cents,  which 
is  less  than  two  cents  a  pound.  In  addition  to  this 
the  package  is  delivered  directly  to  the  consumer,  and 
thus  the  charge  which  the  local  market  man  and  the 
local  grocery  man  must  always  make  for  delivery  is 
avoided.  When  this  is  taken  into  consideration,  I 
think  it  may  safely  be  said  that  the  cost  of  delivery 
by  parcel  post  is  not  very  much  more  than  that  of 
the  ordinary  methods  of  commerce  now  in  vogue,  in  the 
purchase  and  delivery  of  small  packages  from  local 
stores.  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  therefore,  that  the 
cost  of  transportation  of  food  products  by  parcel  post 
is  the  least  important  factor  of  the  problem. 

The  real  difficulty  is  in  the  proper  selection  and  pack- 
ing of  food  products  by  the  farmer  in  a  way  to  please 
the  consumer.  It  will,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  have 
a  campaign  of  education  started  among  the  farmers,  in 
order  to  teach  them  these  fundamental  principles. 


XV 

BUSINESS  METHODS  IN  FARMING 

ONE  of  the  most  discouraging  features  of  agricul- 
ture, both  from  the  side  of  the  practical  farmer 
and  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  business  man  who 
wishes  to  engage  in  farming,  is  the  complicated  system 
of  bookkeeping  which  every  farm  requires  and  which 
practically  no  farmer  ever  uses.  An  apt  illustration  is 
that  of  my  own  experience  and  that  of  my  neighbors  in 
the  growing  of  beef  cattle.  In  the  neighborhood  where 
my  farm  is  located  it  is  almost  the  universal  custom  of 
every  farmer  to  grow  a  few  beef  cattle  for  the  market. 
The  region  naturally  comes  to  blue  grass,  which  affords 
an  opportunity  of  preparirig  the  cattle  for  market  at  a 
minimum  of  actual  expenditure  for  food.  The  farmer 
in  my  neighborhood  usually  buys  his  cattle  in  the  au- 
tumn, gathered  from  the  mountains  of  Southwestern 
Virginia  or  Eastern  Tennessee,  or  sent  from  Chicago. 
These  animals  weigh  from  600  to  900  pounds,  and  they 
are  expected  to  be  ready  for  the  market  within  about 
ten  months  after  their  purchase  in  October  or  Novem- 
ber of  each  year.  These  cattle  are  usually  kept  in  the 
open  over  the  winter,  and  fed  unshredded  corn  fodder 
in  the  fields,  together  with  a  little  Indian  corn.  They 
gain  nothing  during  the  winter,  usually  lose  in  weight, 
and  are  not  particularly  pleasing  in  their  appearance 
when  they  begin  to  shed  their  long  hair  after  the  rigors 
of  the  season  are  over. 

Along  about  the  middle  of  April  the  grass  is  suffi- 

114 


BUSINESS  METHODS  IN  FARMING  115 

ciently  grown  so  that  they  no  longer  have  to  be  fed. 
They  are  ready,  usually,  for  the  market  from  the  end 
of  August  to  the  first  of  October.  Many  farmers  sup- 
plement the  grass  feeding  by  beginning  to  feed  the 
immature  Indian  corn  as  soon  as  it  is  suitable  for  that 
purpose,  which  is  about  the  middle  of  August.  The 
corn  is  simply  cut  in  the  fields  and  scattered  in  the  pas- 
tures for  the  cattle  to  eat.  These  cattle  usually  take  on 
about  300  pounds  in  weight  during  the  summer  months, 
so  that  they  weigh  from  1,000  to  1,200  pounds  at  the 
time  of  sale.  If  the  average  cost  is  about  $45  a  head 
in  the  autumn,  they  bring  from  $70  to  $90,  say  an  aver- 
age of  $80  a  head,  when  sold. 

It  is  the  universal  custom  for  the  farmers  to  reckon 
their  profits  on  the  actual  difference  between  the  pur- 
chase and  selling  price.  For  instance,  it  is  not  unusual 
to  hear  the  farmers  say  that  they  made  from  $25  to  $40 
per  head.  In  point  of  fact,  if  they  should  keep  a  rec- 
ord of  the  interest  on  their  money,  taxes,  attention,  cost 
of  food  and  cost  of  pasture,  the  presumed  profits  would 
dwindle  to  a  very  small  sum  or  actually  disappear. 
In  my  own  case,  counting  all  of  the  expenses  as  above 
indicated,  I  lost  from  $5  to  $7  per  head  on  two  succes- 
sive years  and  made  from  $10  to  $15  profit  in  the 
next  succeeding  years,  due  largely  to  an  increase  in 
the  price  of  fat  cattle.  Something,  of  course,  should  be 
allowed  for  the  value  of  the  manure  of  cattle  on  pasture. 
As  this  is  widely  scattered  in  the  urine  and  feces  of  the 
cattle,  or  collected  under  the  trees  where  they  chew  their 
cuds,  it  can  be  dismissed  as  of  but  little  importance. 
My  observation  shows  me  that  the  growing  of  beef  cattle 
under  such  conditions  as  those  mentioned  above  is  rather 
an  uncertain  business  in  so  far  as  real  profit  is  con- 
cerned. 


116          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

Perhaps  there  is  no  other  business  in  this  country  in 
which  so  little  is  known  of  its  financial  condition  as  that 
of  the  ordinary  farm.  Often  farmers  may  set  down 
the  sums  they  pay  out  and  those  they  receive,  but  the 
number  is  not  great.  Bookkeeping  is  an  exact  science 
and  the  average  farmer  does  not  understand  its  first 
rudiments.  He  does  not  know  how  much  it  takes  to 
keep  a  horse  a  year  nor  the  value  of  the  food  which  has 
prepared  his  hog  for  market.  The  household  supplies, 
clothing,  and  luxuries  are  not  reckoned  in  the  year's 
balance  sheets.  He  often  does  not  know  how  much  he 
owes,  and  can  give  little  help  to  the  assessor  who  makes 
a  list  of  his  possessions  for  taxation.  The  comparative 
cost  of  the  various  crops  he  grows  is  an  uncut  page  in 
his  book  of  knowledge.  He  only  knows  his  father  grew 
these  crops  and  they  have  come  down  to  him  as  a  part  of 
his  heredity.  In  the  public  schools  which  he  may  have 
attended  for  a  few  years,  bookkeeping  was  no  part  of  his 
arithmetic.  Yet  what  more  interesting  way  of  teach- 
ing arithmetic  than  by  the  practice  of  the  simple  princi- 
ples of  keeping  accounts?  Inasmuch  as  a  large  ma- 
jority of  our  farmers  do  not  go  beyond  the  "  common 
school,"  it  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  in  our  school 
authorities  to  make  this  study  one  of  chief  importance. 
It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  introduce  on  our  farms  the 
principles  of  efficiency,  so  long  as  we  are  ignorant  of  the 
fundamental  data  of  the  farm's  expenses  and  receipts. 
I  have  already  attested  to  the  desirability  of  the  pay- 
ment of  all  bills  by  check.  I  assume  that  on  the  stub 
of  each  check  is  entered  the  purpose  of  the  payment. 
In  the  case  of  bills  at  stores  and  elsewhere  the  receipted 
payment  should  be  attached  to  the  canceled  check  when 
it  is  received  from  the  bank.  The  farmer  in  all  cases 
when  he  wishes  to  look  up  a  past  transaction  will  find 


JtST    AT    THAT    TIME    FARMERS    WERE    OFFERING     FROM     91.50     TO 
FOR    HELP    IN    THE    CORN    HARVEST 


I    HAVE    ALL    I    CAN    EAT    AND    WEAR.        WHY    Slloll.l)    I    WANT    MORE? 


BUSINESS  METHODS  IN  FARMING  117 

the  most  important  data  on  record  on  the  stub,  the  re- 
turned check  and  the  payments  he  has  made  for  labor 
and  how  much  has  gone  to  each  man,  what  proportion 
of  his  outlay  has  gone  for  repairs,  upkeep  and  improve- 
ments; in  short,  in  the  absence  of  any  other  record  he 
will  be  able  to  get  a  fair  summary  of  his  financial  stand- 
ing from  his  check  book.  In  addition  to  this  he  should 
always  make  out  a  duplicate  of  his  deposit  check,  stat- 
ing in  each  item  its  source  and  details  of  the  payment. 
Thus  both  his  income  and  outgo  are  at  hand  for  com- 
parison. But  the  home  consumption,  and  the  general 
cost  of  housing  and  keeping  will,  of  course,  fail  of  rec- 
ord in  the  check  book.  This  fault  might  be  avoided  by 
a  supplementary  record  of  the  amount  of  the  home- 
grown food  and  other  supplies  used  in  the  home.  The 
farmer  who  keeps  even  such  simple  accounts  as  those 
outlined,  gets  a  hold  on  his  business,  takes  a  greater 
pride  therein,  and  ends  by  being  prosperous  and  use- 
ful. I  always  feel  like  saying  to  a  farmer  who  keeps 
this  useful  record,  "  You  are  on  the  road  to  prosperity, 
soon  you  will  be  out  of  debt  and  you  will  take  an  in- 
creasing pleasure  and  pride  in  your  business." 

In  further  detail  I  urge  every  farmer  who  reads  these 
lines  to  make  at  least  one  experiment.  If  you  have  a 
field  of  which  the  area  is  known  —  do  you  know  of  any 
farmer  who  does  n't  guess  at  the  size  of  his  field  ?  — 
keep  just  one  accurate  account  of  one  crop.  Suppose 
it  is  wheat.  Compute  for  one  year  the  following 
data: 

A.  Value  of  land  per  acre  and  interest  at  6  per  cent. 

B.  Taxes. 

C.  Fertilizer  (commercial),  amount  used  and  cost, 
including  hauling  and  drilling. 

D.  Loads  and  cost  of  manure  at  50  cents  per  load. 


118  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

E.  Days  of  team  and  men,  plowing,  harrowing,  roll- 
ing and  planting  at  $4  per  day  for  team  and  man. 

F.  Bushels  and  cost  of  seed. 

G.  Cost  of  planting. 
H.  Cost  of  harvesting. 

I.  Cost  of  hauling,  thrashing  and  sacking. 

J.  Cost  of  delivery  to  market. 

K.  Value  of  wheat  sold. 

L.  Profit  —  or  loss. 

The  farmer  will  be  surprised  at  the  value  of  the 
knowledge  which  such  an  account  will  give  him.  He 
will  be  encouraged  to  apply  this  system  to  all  his  crops 
and  for  every  year.  He  will  learn  where  his  losses  are 
and  how  to  stop  them.  He  will  know  where  his  profits 
come  from  and  how  to  increase  them. 


XVI 

FARM  FINANCE 

THE  farmer  must  not  only  be  a  scientific  man  and 
a  skilled  artisan,  but  he  must  also  have  some  fun- 
damental notions,  and  sound  ones  at  that,  concerning 
finance.  It  is  extremely  easy  for  the  farmer  to  go 
into  debt,  especially  if  his  farm  is  not  mortgaged.  The 
country  store  or  the  village  merchant  will  give  a  farmer 
unlimited  credit  as  long  as  his  farm  is  unencumbered. 
But  this  question  is  a  pertinent  one,  namely,  Should 
the  farmer  go  into  debt  ? 

This  can  be  properly  answered  both  affirmatively 
and  negatively.  The  farmer  is  justified  in  going  into 
debt  when  by  so  doing  he  can  secure  the  necessary  funds 
either  for  the  payment  for  his  farm  or  its  equipment. 
A  reasonable  indebtedness,  at  a  low  rate  of  interest,  is 
justifiable  for  expenditures  of  this  kind.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  farmer  cannot  go  into  debt  with  safety  for  the 
expenses  of  fine  clothing,  riding  horses,  carriages,  auto- 
mobiles, flying  machines,  and  the  unknown  and  untried 
schemes  of  every  description  with  which  he  is  beset. 

I  go  even  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  is  not  justifiable  for 
a  farmer  to  go  into  debt  for  a  melodeon  or  a  piano  or  a 
pianola,  and  certainly  not  for  unknown  and  unproved 
pieces  of  farm  machinery,  nor  for  books  that  are  sold 
by  instalment,  nor  for  new  kinds  of  lightning  rods,  nor 

for  any  kind  of  a  bunco  proposition  of  any  description. 

119 


120          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

The  fanner  is  too  often  regarded  as  an  easy  mark  for 
the  man  who  has  bizarre  things  to  sell.  Before  he 
knows  it  the  farmer  may  have  become  deeply  involved 
for  articles  which  are  of  no  practical  value,  which  do 
nothing  to  increase  his  farming  facilities,  and  which 
upon  the  whole  may  be  regarded  simply  as  waste  ma- 
terials. Debts  incurred  for  such  purposes  as  these  are 
indeed  a  threat  to  the  stability  of  the  farmer's  credit 
and  prosperity. 

In  the  purchase  of  land  where  the  purchaser  has  not 
the  funds  for  cash  payment,  it  seems  to  me  there  is  no 
distinction  between  giving  the  mortgage  to  the  original 
owner  or  in  giving  it  to  somebody  else  and  paying  the 
original  owner  in  cash.  This  is  true  only  where  the 
rates  of  interest  in  the  two  cases  are  the  same.  Land 
being  the  most  stable  of  possessions,  should  be  able  to 
bear  a  debt  at  the  lowest  rates  of  interest.  In  point  of 
fact,  however,  the  rates  of  interest  on  money  loaned  on 
farms  are  usually  higher  than  on  money  loaned  on  real 
estate  securities  in  cities.  Why  this  is  so  I  cannot  im- 
agine, unless  it  be  that  many  farmers  are  proverbially 
slow  pay  and  it  is  not  always  possible  to  convert  a  farm 
mortgage  into  cash  when  the  cash  is  badly  wanted. 

PAY   ALL    BILLS    BY    CHECK. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  where  it  is  possible  to 
have  access  to  a  bank  which  is  reliable,  the  farmer 
should  keep  his  moneys  on  deposit  and  pay  all  his  bills 
by  check.  Not  only  is  the  paying  of  all  bills  by  check 
almost  the  simplest  form  of  bookkeeping  on  the  farm, 
as  a  simple  entry  on  the  stub  will  be  a  sufficient  guide 
to  review  the  character  of  the  expenses,  but  the  carry- 
ing of  loose  money  about  in  the  pockets,  or  keeping  it 
about  the  house,  has  two  distinctly  unfavorable  fea- 


FARM  FINANCE  121 

tures.  In  the  first  place,  if  the  money  be  carried  on 
the  person  it  may  be  easily  lost.  In  the  second  place, 
if  it  is  hoarded  in  the  house  it  is  an  attractive  mark 
for  the  burglar.  Burglars  do  not  "  burgle "  in  the 
dark,  at  least  not  usually.  If  they  are  the  right  sort 
of  burglars  and  know  their  business,  they  do  not  go 
after  a  prize  unless  they  know  its  magnitude  and  the 
place  where  it  is  to  be  found.  Hence  it  follows  that  if 
the  farmer  keeps  no  money  about  his  house,  in  so  far 
as  that  is  concerned  there  is  no  attraction  in  that  house 
for  the  thief.  For  convenience,  for  systematic  keeping 
of  the  accounts,  and  for  economy)  it  is  well  that  the 
farmer's  money  be  kept  in  the  bank. 

IS    IT   BENEFICIAL.   TO    BE    IN    DEBT? 

It  often  has  been  said  that  to  be  in  debt  is  an  in- 
centive to  greater  exertion.  Perhaps  this  may  be  true, 
but  it  is  a  kind  of  incentive  that  should  not  be  neces- 
sary on  the  farm.  The  love  of  nature,  the  joy  of  out- 
door life,  the  pleasure  of  producing  something  valuable, 
the  duty  of  providing  food  and  clothing  for  the  family, 
and  the  science  of  taking  care  of  the  fields,  ought  to  be 
sufficient  inducement  to  any  farmer  without  being 
driven  by  the  sting  of  debt.  It  is  true,  in  many  cases 
of  negligence  and  unthriftiness,  that  the  farmer  who 
receives  money  which  should  be  applied  upon  a  debt, 
will  not  pay  it,  but  will  start  a  little  banking  account 
of  his  own,  put  it  in  his  pocket  or  spend  it  for  some 
pleasure  or  amusement.  This  is  a  most  unfortunate 
habit,  however,  and  should  not  be  encouraged. 

The  small  farmer  at  the  best  does  not  have  a  very 
large  capital  invested.  If  his  farm  has  cost  him  $7,500, 
his  implements  and  live  stock  and  other  permanent  in- 
vestments will  bring  the  sum  up  to  probably  $10,000, 


122  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

but  not  more.  Ten  thousand  dollars  loaned  on  gilt  edge 
securities  may  bring  an  income  of  $500  a  year.  If  the 
farmer  so  manipulates  his  agricultural  work,  with  suffi- 
cient direction  and  industry,  he  may  be  well  satisfied 
if  he  secures  from  the  farm  in  which  $10,000 
is  invested,  an  annual  net  money  return  of  $500.  I 
imagine  that  there  are  very  few  farmers,  except  in  spe- 
cial cases,  who  get  as  large  a  return  as  this,  even  when 
not  allowing  anything  for  their  own  work. 

The  farmer's  finance,  then,  is  not  on  a  large  scale; 
but  that  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  sound  or 
why  the  farmer  should  not  have  fundamentally  sound 
ideas  of  what  investments  mean  and  what  interests  and 
dividends  indicate.  For  this  reason  the  farmer  should 
first  investigate  the  condition  of  his  neighborhood  bank. 
He  should  know  the  character  and  standing  of  the  offi- 
cers and  directors  thereof,  and  whether  or  not  it  is  en- 
gaged in  any  wild-catting  schemes.  If  the  bank  is  a 
private  one,  as  these  small  banks  often  are,  it  may  be 
very  difficult  to  get  the  information  which  will  give  him 
what  he  wants  to  know  on  the  above  questions. 

COOPERATION    IN    BORROWING. 

The  farmer  can  secure  better  terms  for  the  money 
he  borrows  if  he  can  cooperate  with  his  neighbors.  In 
doing  this  we  see  the  foundations  for  cooperative  rural 
credits.  This  system  of  furnishing  money  to  the  far- 
mer is  quite  prominent  in  many  European  countries. 
A  commission  of  wide-awake  men,  members  of  Con- 
gress and  others,  was  sent  to  Europe  in  1913  to  study 
the  system  of  rural  credits  there  found.  This  commit- 
tee brought  back  most  valuable  information,  and  the 
suggestions  which  it  has  made  have  become  the  basis 
of  a  bill  which  is  now  pending  in  the  Congress  of  the 


FARM  FINANCE  123 

United  States  to  establish  a  system  of  rural  credits  un- 
der national  supervision. 

A  banking  system  which  is  inspected  and  approved 
by  the  officials  of  the  United  States  would  certainly  be 
an  improvement  on  the  private  banking  system  to  which 
the  farmer  heretofore  has  had  access.  In  a  system  of 
this  kind  all  land  of  a  community  becomes  pledged  for 
the  debts  of  the  members  of  the  union.  Thus  the  se- 
curity which  is  given  is  of  the  best  quality,  and  the 
rates  of  interest  thereon  can  be  of  the  lowest.  If  first- 
class  city  property  and  securities  can  be  pledged  at  a 
bank  for  4l/2  or  5  per  cent,  interest,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  associated  securities  of  a  rural  community 
may  not  secure  an  equal  benefit  Too  often  the  rates 
charged  farmers  for  borrowed  money  have  been  exorbi- 
tant. In  many  localities  they  have  reached  eight  or 
even  ten  per  cent.  Only  the  most  happy  combination 
of  events  can  render  the  borrowing  of  money  by  a 
farmer  at  this  interest  profitable. 

THE    LONG-TIME   NOTE. 

One  of  the  principal  points  connected  with  a  system 
of  rural  credits  is  the  long-time  note.  In  the  city  a 
merchant  who  needs  money,  usually  with  the  aid  of  the 
name  of  another  responsible  citizen,  may  go  to  the 
bank  and  borrow  money  on  call  or  for  30,  60  or  90  days, 
at  a  very  low  rate  of  interest.  The  bank  soon  receives 
this  money  again  and  it  is  kept  in  continual  circula- 
tion. If  the  rural  banks  are  to  be  established  in  the 
near  future,  under  authority  of  Congress,  and  handle 
the  funds  of  the  community  in  a  manner  whereby  it  is 
possible  to  give  long-time  notes,  it  will  be  of  immense 
benefit  to  the  farmer.  For  instance,  in  the  purchase 
of  a  farm  by  a  man  capable  and  industrious  and  honest, 


124  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

who  expects  to  pay  a  large  part  of  the  purchase  price 
from  the  proceeds  of  the  farm,  it  is  necessary  that  many 
years  elapse  before  the  whole  of  the  purchase  price  can 
be  realized  from  the  products  of  the  farm.  Here  is  the 
ideal  place  for  a  long-time  note  at  low  interest.  Such 
notes  may  run  five  or  even  ten  years,  if  they  do  not 
represent  too  large  a  portion  of  the  purchase  price. 
A  system  of  credits  of  this  kind  can  also  be  properly 
coupled  with  a  sinking  fund,  namely,  that  the  farmer 
not  only  pays  the  interest  annually  or  semi-annually, 
but  also  a  small  portion  of  the  principal,  thus  gradually 
reducing  his  indebtedness  and  the  amount  of  interest 
he  has  to  pay. 

POSSIBLE    RATE    OF    INTEREST. 

With  a  somewhat  long  experience  in  farm  life,  I  am 
fully  convinced  that  there  are  very  few  farms  in  this 
country  so  well  conducted  that  they  could  successfully 
pay  a  rate  of  interest  above  6  per  cent.,  and  with  the 
very  best  farms  for  security  that  rate  ought  to  be  cut 
down  to  5  or  4^  per  cent,  for  long-time  notes  secured 
by  mortgage  on  the  land  itself.  Naturally  a  bank  that 
had  a  lot  of  long-time  paper  would  have  to  be  most  con- 
servatively conducted.  Its  deposits  subject  to  check 
would  have  to  be  strictly  controlled,  so  that  it  would  be 
possible  at  all  times  to  secure  the  money  for  the  pay- 
ment of  individual  checks.  Greater  stability  is  secured 
in  these  cases  by  the  depositor  placing  his  money  in  the 
bank  subject  to  order  at  a  future  date.  In  other  words, 
a  certain  percentage  of  the  farmer's  deposits  might  be 
subject  to  immediate  check,  but  any  large  portion  of 
them  should  be  subject  to  check  only  on  notice  of  one, 
three  or  five  months.  Thus  all  danger  of  having  a  run 
upon  the  bank  would  be  avoided  and  the  officials  would 


FARM  FINANCE  125 

have  ample  time,  in  the  case  of  having  a  large  part  of 
their  deposits  invested  in  long-term  notes,  to  secure  the 
amounts  necessary  to  meet  the  time  demands. 

BUBAL    CBEDITS. 

The  details  of  a  system  of  rural  credits  can  be  worked 
out  in  this  country  only  after  a  few  years  of  experi- 
ence with  banks  in  actual  operation.  It  would  be  im- 
possible for  any  financier,  no  matter  how  keen  his  in- 
sight might  be,  to  foresee  all  the  problems  which  will 
come  in  connection  with  supervised  rural  banks.  The 
problem,  however,  is  not  one  that  is  insolvable.  Nat- 
urally supervision  of  the  expenditures  of  the  money 
secured  from  the  banks  on  long-time  rural  credit  notes 
must  be  in  the  hands  of  the  banks  themselves.  From 
each  one  who  borrows  a  written  statement  of  the  pur- 
poses to  which  the  money  is  to  be  devoted  should  be  se- 
cured, and  the  bank  officials  should  see  that  the  money 
is  expended  strictly  in  harmony  with  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  borrowed.  Otherwise  it  might  be  possible 
for  borrowers  from  the  bank  to  keep  it  in  continual 
trouble. 

This  would  be  most  easily  done  if  the  money  secured 
on  the  loan  were  spent  for  the  unnecessary  or  frivolous 
purposes  which  were  mentioned  above. 

I  do  not  believe  that  farmers  should  be  encouraged  to 
go  into  debt.  The  best  farmer  is  the  one  who  owes 
nothing  and  still  has  money  in  the  bank.  But  I  do 
believe  that  for  the  purchase  and  proper  equipment  of 
the  farm  in  all  the  respects  which  I  have  mentioned 
it  is  advisable,  permissible  and  necessary,  for  the  farmer 
to  go  into  debt.  Debts  of  this  kind,  however,  will  be 
like  debts  of  honor,  and  there  is  little  possibility  of  loss 
to  rural  banks  which  extend  all  the  courtesies  possible 


126  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

to  the  farming  communities  in  their  neighborhoods, 
and  for  as  long  a  time  as  may  be  necessary  to  work  out 
the  returns  and  repay  loans. 

PROPOSED  LEGISLATION   EESPECTING   FARM    CEEDITS. 

Extensive  studies  have  been  made  of  the  systems  of 
farm  credits  in  vogue  in  European  countries,  especially 
in  Germany.  The  commission  authorized  by  Congress 
to  make  these  studies  was  composed  of  two  United 
States  Senators,  one  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  three  citizens,  the  personnel  being  Sen- 
ator Duncan  U.  Fletcher,  Chairman,  Representative 
Ralph  W.  Moss,  Vice  Chairman,  Senator  Thomas  P. 
Gore,  Mr.  Harvie  Jordan,  Mr.  John  Lee  Coulter,  Secre- 
tary, Mr.  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  President  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Agricultural  College,  and  Mr.  Clarence  J. 
Owens,  Secretary  of  the  Southern  Commercial  Con- 
gress. A  full  report  was  made  by  this  commission  to 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  published  as 
Senate  Document  No.  380,  63d  Congress,  2d  Session. 

In  considering  the  whole  question  of  rural  credits 
for  the  benefit  of  agriculture,  the  commission  made  the 
following  statement: 

In  considering  this  question  the  commission  has  attempted  to 
define,  in  the  first  place,  the  needs  of  the  American  farming 
population  in  a  financial  sense.  As  noted  above,  a  careful 
consideration  of  this  point  has  resulted  in  its  defining  these 
needs  as  being  two  in  number,  as  follows : 

First.  The  farmer's  capital  requirements,  by  which  is  meant 
the  need  of  the  farmer  for  large  sums  of  money  to  be  used  in 
aiding  to  pay  the  purchase  price  of  the  farm,  in  improving  his 
farm,  such  as  erecting  new  farm  buildings,  draining,  irrigating 
or  clearing,  or  in  equipping  the  farm  so  as  to  bring  his  opera- 
tions to  the  highest  state  of  efficiency. 

The  money  needed  for  these  purposes  must  be  in  the  shape  of 


FARM  FINANCE  127 

a  more  or  less  permanent  investment,  or  in  the  shape  of  loans 
extending  over  such  a  long  period  of  time  that  they  can  be 
gradually  reduced  and  paid  off  out  of  the  increased  earnings 
derived  from  the  improvements  made  or  the  equipment  added 
by  the  farmer  with  the  proceeds  of  such  loans.  This  is  gen- 
erally referred  to  as  long-term  or  land-mortgage  credit. 

Second.  The  farmer's  temporary  or  annually  recurring  re- 
quirements, by  which  is  meant  the  money  needed  by  him  to 
finance  his  operations  during  the  time  that  the  crops  are  being 
produced.  These  temporary  requirements  recur  every  year  and 
embrace  the  financial  needs  of  the  farmer  for  the  purpose  of 
preparing  the  land,  sowing  and  cultivating  the  crops,  and 
harvesting  the  same.  This  is  generally  referred  to  as  personal 
or  short-term  credit.  But  the  short-term  credit  of  the  farmer 
should  be  distinguished  from  the  short-term  credit  of  the  mer- 
chant or  manufacturer.  The  merchant  requires  banking  ac- 
commodation for  30,  60  or  90  days,  during  which  period  he 
can  dispose  of  the  stock  acquired  and  repay  the  loan ;  in  con- 
trast, the  farmer  may  require  short-term  credit  extending  from 
the  time  the  crops  are  planted  until  they  are  harvested,  and  this 
may  be  fixed  approximately  at  from  90  days  to  1  year.  After 
the  crops  are  harvested  and  stored  in  a  barn,  elevator,  or  ware- 
house, the  need  of  agricultural  banking  is  largely  removed,  as 
the  financial  handling  of  the  crops  so  stored  then  comes  under 
the  province  of  commercial  banking. 

The  questions,  therefore,  to  be  considered  resolve  themselves 
into  the  methods  of  furnishing  for  the  farmer  long-term,  or 
land-mortgage,  credit  and  short-term,  or  personal,  credit.  For 
convenience  in  discussing  these  two  systems  of  credit,  long-term, 
or  land-mortgage,  credit  will  be  hereafter  referred  to  as  mort- 
gage credit,  because  such  credit  must  necessarily  be  based  on 
the  security  of  the  land  owned  by  the  farmer  and  because  such 
mortgage  credit  must  for  convenience  be  again  subdivided  into 
long  term  mortgage  credit  and  short-term  mortgage  credit,  as 
will  be  hereinafter  shown.  Short-term  credit,  or  personal 
credit,  as  above  defined,  will  be  hereinafter  referred  to  as  per- 
sonal credit. 

In  the  opinion  of  this  commission  these  two  general  classes 
of  credit  must  be  largely  segregated,  although  the  two  systems 
will  naturally  touch  at  many  points.  Further,  in  the  judgment 
of  this  commission,  the  development  of  a  system  of  farm  land 


128  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

banks  is  the  most  important  and  the  primary  step  to  be  taken 
in  order  to  improve  our  agricultural-credit  conditions.  It 
naturally  and  necessarily  precedes  the  development  of  personal 
credit.  This  history  of  European  systems  has  shown  that  the 
land-mortgage  banks  preceded  the  personal-credit  banks.  In 
this  country  it  is  urgently  necessary  to  create  a  land-mortgage 
security  which  will  be  entirely  liquid  by  reason  of  having  a 
ready  market,  which  will  run  for  a  long  time,  which  can  be 
paid  off  in  small  annual  or  semiannual  instalments,  and 
which  will  enable  the  land-owning  farmer  to  use  most  ad- 
vantageously his  best  banking  asset,  land,  as  the  basis  of  credit. 

In  this  part  of  the  report  the  problems  of  mortgage  credit 
will  be  first  considered,  since  definite  recommendations  have 
already  been  carefully  prepared  suggesting  important  national 
legislation.  The  problems  of  personal  credit  will  follow  in  a 
separate  section  of  the  report  to  be  submitted  at  an  early  date. 

In  discussing  the  bearing  of  the  experience  of  the  European 
countries  upon  this  question,  special  reference  may  be  made  to 
Germany  as  an  illustration,  since  both  systems  of  credit  have 
attained  very  great  efficiency  in  that  Empire  and  remarkable 
results  to  the  farmer  have  been  secured,  doubtless  to  a  large 
extent  as  a  result  of  the  growth  of  agricultural  credit.  If 
space  permitted,  this  comparison  could  be  extended  to  other 
countries  which  were  visited  by  the  commission  to  good  ad- 
vantage, but  probably  additional  and  extended  comparisons 
would  make  this  report  too  voluminous. 

In  considering  the  conditions  in  Germany,  as  applying  to 
the  conditions  in  the  United  States,  the  essential  points  of 
difference  between  the  two  countries  should  always  be  borne  in 
mind.  In  size  the  German  Empire  is  about  equal  to  the  area 
of  the  State  of  Texas  after  cutting  off  from  Texas  an  area  as 
large  as  the  State  of  Alabama.  In  population  the  German 
Empire  contains  about  68,000,000  people,  or  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  population  of  the  whole  United  States.  In  in- 
tensive farming  the  Germans  are  far  ahead  of  our  own  farm- 
ing population,  and  the  average  production  in  Germany  has 
increased  greatly,  while  our  average  yield  per  acre  has  increased 
but  slowly.  In  Germany  the  population  in  a  given  district  is 
largely  homogeneous,  and  the  individual  is,  so  to  speak,  attached 
to  the  soil,  the  same  farms  continuing  in  the  same  families  for 
generations.  In  this  country  such  a  condition  is  seldom  found. 


FARM  FINANCE  129 

In  Germany,  on  account  of  the  limited  supply  of  land  and  the 
large  population,  and  on  account  of  the  known  productivity  of 
each  piece  of  land,  the  value  of  that  land  is  easily  ascertained 
and  varies  within  very  slight  limits.  In  this  country  the  varia- 
tions in  value  are  very  great.  In  Germany  the  average  farm 
is  about  20  acres;  in  this  country  the  average  farm  is  138 
acres.  In  Germany  the  credit  and  resources  of  the  individual 
in  a  community  are  known  to  practically  every  other  individual 
in  that  community;  in  this  country  no  such  accurate  informa- 
tion is  obtainable.  In  Germany  the  small  farmer,  his  wife,  and 
children  all  do  manual  work  on  the  farm,  in  this  country  such 
a  condition  is  rare.  In  Germany  the  people  have  been  trained 
to  a  supervision  and  control  of  their  operation  by  strict  gov- 
ernment regulations,  which  would  not  be  favored  in  this  coun- 
try. 

LONG-TIME   MORTGAGE. 

In  every  system  of  rural  credits  a  special  emphasis 
must  be  laid  upon  the  long-time  mortgage  or  long-time 
credit  as  distinguished  from  short-term  or  short  mort- 
gages, which  are  usually  the  securities  in  ordinary  mu- 
nicipal banking.  This  system  of  mortgage  credit  the 
commission  found  has  existed  in  Europe  since  the 
reign  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  has  been  especially 
developed  in  Germany,  and  in  the  German  states  in 
Prussia.  The  fundamental  principle  of  land-mortgage 
bonds  in  vogue  in  these  localities  is  the  issue  of  bonds 
which  are  based  on  the  total  value  or  security  of  many 
pieces  of  real  estate,  instead  of  on  individual  holdings. 

This  principle  may  well  be  illustrated  as  follows: 
At  the  present  time,  if  four  farmers  living  on  adjoining 
farms  desire  to  secure  mortgages  for  any  purpose  what- 
ever on  their  land,  each  one  acts  independently  of  all 
the  others.  In  the  collective  system  above  referred  to 
the  mortgage  would  be  laid  upon  the  whole  of  this 
property  for  the  benefit  of  the  residents  thereon,  on 
terras  agreed  upon  by  these  residents.  It  is  easy  to  see 


130 

that  an  extensive  mortgage  of  this  kind  would  be  re- 
garded as  a  better  security  than  an  individual  mort- 
gage, and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  the  rate  of  interest 
of  the  mortgage  might  be  considerably  lower.  This 
form  of  mortgage  is  indeed  an  agricultural  cooperation, 
and  is  a  very  primitive  form  of  association  among 
farmers  which  they  can  all  easily  understand  and  readily 
take  part  in. 

LONG-TIME   LOAJTS. 

In  general  it  is  found  that  all  loans  that  exceed  five 
years  in  term  are  classified  as  long-term  loans.  The 
principal  of  these  loans  is  not  made  repayable  all  at 
once,  but  in  small  annual  or  semi-annual  payments. 
This  latter  method  of  re-payment  is  generally  known 
as  amortization.  The  issue  of  land  mortgage  bonds  of 
this  kind,  connected  with  this  method  of  amortization 
payments,  is  the  distinctive  feature  of  European  long- 
term  mortgage  credit.  In  the  opinion  of  the  commis- 
sion this  feature  should  be  incorporated  in  any  system 
of  rural  credits  authorized  by  Congress  for  the  general 
benefit  of  agricultural  borrowers  of  the  country.  Nat- 
urally under  this  system  the  duration  of  the  loan  is  de- 
termined by  the  rate  of  partial  payments  on  the  amorti- 
zation scheme.  The  commission  gives  the  following 
example : 

If  4  per  cent,  bonds  are  selling  at  par  and  the  bank 
charges  thirty-five  one-hundredths  of  1  per  cent,  for  adminis- 
tration, then  an  amortization  rate  of  fifty  one-hundredths  of  1 
per  cent,  will  extinguish  the  debt  in  54l/2  years;  that  is  to  say, 
the  borrower  will  pay  the  bank  a  rate  of  4.85  per  cent,  on  the 
sum  borrowed  for  54^2  years.  The  bank  divides  this  payment 
into  three  parts;  4  per  cent,  goes  to  pay  the  interest  due  on 
the  collateral  trust  bond  which  the  bank  issued  to  secure  the 
money  which  was  loaned  to  the  farmer;  fifty  one-hundredths 


FARM  FINANCE  131 

of  1  per  cent,  is  applied  toward  the  payment  of  the  principal, 
and  the  bank  receives  thirty-five  one-hundredths  of  1  per  cent 
for  expenses  and  profits.  If  the  bond  sells  below  par,  either 
the  farmer  must  pay  a  commission  to  the  bank  or  the  discount 
must  be  met  by  the  bank  from  its  administration  fund;  on  the 
other  hand,  if  the  bonds  sell  above  par,  the  premium  may  go 
to  the  borrower  or  to  the  institution  in  the  form  of  profit. 
Generally  speaking,  the  interest  rate  to  the  borrower  is  deter- 
mined by  the  market  value  of  the  bank's  collateral  trust  bonds, 
generally  referred  to  as  land-mortgage  bonds,  the  rate  to  the 
borrower  rising  as  the  bond  falls  below  par,  and  lowering  as  it 
advances  above  par. 

If  the  rate  for  amortization  is  higher  than  fifty  one- 
hundredths  of  1  per  cent.,  the  loan  will  necessarily  be  extin- 
guished in  a  shorter  period  than  54^2  years. 

A  limitation  as  to  time  is  usually  fixed  by  law  as  well  as 
to  the  rate  which  the  bank  may  charge  for  administration. 
In  actual  operation  in  Europe  the  time  limitation  varies  in 
general  from  30  to  60  years,  and  the  charge  for  administration 
varies  from  fifteen  one-hundredths  of  1  per  cent,  in  a  purely 
mutual  association  of  borrowers  to  thirty-five  one-hundredths 
of  1  per  cent,  in  joint-stock  banks.  The  French  law  allows 
a  margin  of  sixty  one-hundredths  of  1  per  cent.,  as  does  the 
recent  Spanish  law.  This  charge  is  computed  on  the  principal 
sum  remaining  unpaid,  and  in  long-time  loans  it  is  therefore  a 
constantly  decreasing  charge  to  the  borrower. 

These  rates  of  payment  for  interest,  amortization,  and 
administration  are  definitely  fixed  in  the  terms  of  the  mort- 
gage and  can  not  be  changed  by  the  bank.  The  borrower, 
however,  is  always  given  the  right  to  discharge  his  obligations 
at  any  interest  period  after  a  fixed  time.  This  period  is  com- 
monly designated  in  Europe  as  10  years.  This  right  is  a 
double  protection  to  the  borrower.  First,  it  protects  the 
debtor  against  any  demand  for  payment  of  his  entire  debt  or 
an  increase  in  the  annual  interest  charges;  second,  the  pro- 
vision for  repayment  at  pleasure  gives  the  borrower  complete 
protection  against  a  general  fall  in  interest  rates.  This  will 
be  a  very  important  feature  to  American  debtors,  since  the 
tendency  in  the  United  States  will  be  toward  lower  interest 
rates  for  farmers.  Under  such  a  contract  a  borrower  could 
safely  assume  a  liability  maturing  regularly  over  a  long  period 


132  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

of  time,  because  if  interest  rates  were  to  fall  he  could  borrow 
money  elsewhere  at  the  lower  rate  of  interest,  discharge  his 
obligation,  and  thus  secure  the  advantages  of  a  cheaper  rate 
on  money. 

BUEAL  CBEDITS  FREE  FBOM  TAXATION. 

The  commission  further  points  out  that  in  order  to 
make  these  long-time  bonds  as  cheap  to  the  farmer  as 
possible,  it  is  of  prime  significance  to  make  them  free 
of  taxation.  I  have  long  been  of  the  opinion  that  the 
system  of  double  taxation  which  is  so  largely  practised 
in  this  country  is  fundamentally,  morally  and  ethically 
wrong.  For  instance,  if  a  farmer  borrows  money  on  a 
mortgage,  he  has  to  continue  to  pay  his  tax  on  the  land 
which  secures  the  mortgage.  At  tbe  same  time  the 
person  who  holds  the  mortgage  is  taxed  upon  the  mort- 
gage itself,  which  is  naturally  another  tax  upon  the 
land,  as  the  rate  of  interest  must  be  high  enough  to 
pay  the  man  who  loans  the  money  a  reasonable  interest 
and  also  to  enable  him  to  pay  the  tax  upon  his  holdings. 

The  commission  therefore  strongly  urges  that  these 
long-time  mortgages  at  low  rates  be  specifically  ex- 
empted from  taxation  both  by  state  and  national  au- 
thorities. They  quote  President  Taft  to  the  effect  that 
farmers  are  paying  higher  interest  rates  than  any  other 
class  of  business  men,  and  refer  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
Middle  West,  where  land  values  range  from  $100  up- 
ward per  acre,  if  the  land  be  mortgaged  for  50  per  cent, 
of  its  value,  and  if  the  mortgage  is  taxed,  the  debtor 
owner  is  investing  $50  per  acre  and  paying  interest  on 
$50  per  acre.  He  is  also  paying  directly  the  tax  on  the 
land  and  paying  indirectly  the  tax  on  the  mortgage, 
which  is  essentially  what  I  have  pointed  out  above. 
The  commission,  continuing,  says: 


FARM  FINANCE  133 

Under  these  conditions  —  rising  land  values  and  cumulative 
taxation  —  the  land  is  slowly  but  surely  passing  away  from 
resident  ownership  to  landlord  ownership.  Farm  tenancy  is 
undeniably  on  the  increase. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  without  some  mod- 
ification of  our  present  laws  of  taxation,  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  European  system  of  land  mortgage  will  ma- 
terially increase  the  possibilities  of  taxing  fictitious 
values.  The  lender  creditor  does  not  receive  the  ob- 
ligation of  the  borrower  debtor,  who  issues  his  obliga- 
tion, namely,  the  mortgage  to  a  bank,  and  this  bank 
in  turn  issues  a  second  obligation,  the  collateral  trust 
bond  or  land-mortgage  bond,  to  the  real  creditor,  the 
man  who  invests  his  money.  If  all  these  values  are 
taxed,  the  land,  the  mortgage,  and  the  bond,  we  will  have 
increased  the  burden  of  taxation,  which,  under  present 
conditions,  rests  so  heavily  on  the  owners  of  mortgaged 
real  estate. 

DIFFICULTIES    BY   SEASON   OF  STATE   SOVEREIGNTY. 

The  commission  also  calls  attention  to  a  difficulty 
which  will  arise  in  the  institution  of  a  system  of  long- 
term  mortgages  of  an  agricultural  character  in  this 
country  by  reason  of  our  double  sovereignty.  Not  only 
are  taxes  laid  by  the  nation  in  this  country  under  vari- 
ous forms,  such  as  customs  and  internal  revenue  taxes, 
taxes  on  manufactured  products  and  incomes,  but  also 
we  have  a  system  of  wholly  independent  taxation  in 
the  States,  based  on  the  theory  of  the  absolute  sov- 
ereignty of  the  State.  The  State,  however,  delegates 
its  authority  largely  to  the  counties,  so  that  special 
taxes  for  special  purposes  may  be  laid  in  the  counties 
for  school,  road  and  other  purposes,  to  be  levied  and 
spent  within  the  county.  This  multiple  system  of  tax- 


134  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

ation  by  independent  sovereignties  will  of  course  re- 
quire a  special  form  of  guaranty  of  land  titles  to  secure 
the  lender  of  the  money  from  any  possible  loss. 

It  is  therefore  important,  in  order  to  secure  these 
long-term  mortgages  at  the  lowest  rate  of  interest,  that 
the  various  States  should  undertake  some  form  of  guar- 
anty of  the  title,  so  that  the  borrower  may  have  no  doubt 
whatever  respecting  the  legality  of  the  title  on  which 
his  money  is  placed.  If  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  na- 
tional and  state  governments  to  promote  agricultural 
credits,  then  it  is  proper  for  them  to  do  so  in  every 
reasonable  way,  and  the  guaranty  of  the  title  would  re- 
move one  of  the  objections  which  so  many  people  have 
to  lending  money  on  real  estate. 

It  is  recognized,  by  reason. of  this  multiple  form  of 
government,  that  in  any  system  of  rural  credits  which 
may  be  proposed  by  Congress  the  sovereignty  of  the 
State  must  receive  direct  recognition,  and  that  in  no 
case  would  any  set  of  banks  in  any  one  State  be  permit- 
ted to  operate  in  the  lending  of  money  on  collateral  or 
other  mortgages  "in  other  States.  There  would  there- 
fore be  as  many  separate  units  of  rural  credits  as  there 
are  separate  States.  In  the  large  States  it  is  also  ad- 
visable that  the  areas  of  operation  of  the  rural  banks 
should  be  still  further  restricted.  In  other  words,  in 
the  large  States  two  or  more  areas  can  be  fixed  by  the 
legislature  to  which  the  rural  bank  system  of  credits 
is  confined.  The  more  densely  populated  a  community 
is,  and  the  more  restricted  its  area,  the  more  workable 
will  be  the  system  of  long-time  rural  mortgages.  For 
this  reason  the  area  of  the  State  will  be  the  largest 
possible  unit  which  could  be  made  available  for  the  pro- 
tection of  a  general  mortgage  note.  This  plan  of  rural 
credits  promises  a  lower  rate  of  interest  on  farm  loans. 


FARM  FINANCE  135 

STABILITY    OF   THE    SYSTEM. 

If  a  system  of  mortgage  rural  banks  be  established, 
and  an  act  of  Congress,  supplemented  by  an  act  of  the 
state  legislatures,  strictly  limits  the  field  of  its  opera- 
tions, there  should  be  no  possibility  under  such  estab- 
lishments of  wrecking  the  bank  or  of  its  going  into  the 
hands  of  a  receiver. 

The  resources  should  also  bear  a  definite  ratio  to  the 
liabilities,  and  by  a  large  percentage  thereof,  and  the 
method  of  checking,  by  reason  of  state  and  national 
examiners,  should  be  such  as  to  detect  any  weak  spots 
and  strengthen  them  before  they  have  become  danger- 
ous to  the  system. 

The  commission  also  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  necessary  that  the  capital  and  surplus  of  the 
mortgage  bank  should  be  entirely  invested  in  these  long- 
time mortgages,  but  they  may  be  invested  in  other 
shorter  term  securities.  The  resources  of  the  bank 
may  be,  under  proper  restrictions,  safely  advanced  from 
time  to  time  in  short-term  loans  at  a  higher  rate  of  in- 
terest The  issue  of  collateral  trust  bonds  secured  by 
large  areas  of  mortgaged  territory  is  a  slow  process. 
Pending  the  completion  of  such  issues,  there  could  be 
no  objection  to  the  investment  of  the  resources  of  the 
bank  in  shorter  term  notes  properly  secured.  For  this 
reason  the  land-mortgage  bond,  based  upon  the  land- 
mortgage  security  itself,  which  can  be  sold  in  the  open 
market  and  thus  converted  into  liquid  currency,  is  an 
important  feature  of  the  operation  of  banks  of  this 
kind.  A  certain  proportion  of  the  capital  of  these 
banks,  under  proper  restrictions,  should  be  reserved 
for  just  such  purposes.  In  other  words,  the  long-time 
mortgages  themselves  may  be  converted  into  temporary 


136  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

currency  by  means  of  the  sale  of  the  land-mortgage 
bonds. 


The  type  of  the  institution  which  shall  be  the  bank- 
ing unit  has  also  been  the  subject  of  careful  investiga- 
tion. In  Europe  the  original  corporation  was  simply 
a  mutual  association  of  farmers  in  which  the  borrowers 
assumed  an  unlimited  mutual  liability.  A  member  of 
this  association  owning  real  estate  could  mortgage  his 
lands  and  was  given  the  amount  of  his  mortgage  in 
bonds,  based  on  the  collective  value  of  all  the  lands  of 
the  members  of  the  association.  He  would  then  sell 
these  bonds  to  any  customer  he  might  be  able  to  find 
individually,  and  thus  convert  his  mortgage  into  money. 
The  association  of  farmers  simply  issued  bonds  against 
the  collective  security,  which  was  the  whole  of  their 
lands,  and  delivered  these  bonds  to  the  borrower  in  ex- 
change for  his  mortgage.  It  did  not  necessarily  give 
any  assistance  to  the  borrower  in  either  selling  the 
bonds  or  keeping  their  value  up  in  the  market  after  the 
sale. 

Following  this  primitive  system  joint-stock  banks 
were  established,  and  these  banks  had  particularly  for 
their  function  to  become  a  selling  agency,  to  dispose  of 
the  bonds  issued  to  the  individual  mortgagor  to  a  better 
advantage  than  he  possibly  could  by  going  into  the  mar- 
ket himself.  Thus  these  joint-stock  banks,  secured  as 
they  were  by  the  general  mortgage  on  the  lands  of  the 
whole  association,  were  able  to  supply  the  individual 
borrower  with  the  money  which  he  wanted,  and  they 
stood,  of  course,  in  a  position  to  repurchase  these  bonds 
whenever  they  saw  fit,  thus  reducing  their  liabilities. 
The  amount  of  bonds  in  proportion  to  the  mortgaged 


MOVING   THE    THRASHING    OUTFIT 


HAULING    WATER   FOR   THE    TRACTION   ENGINE 


FARM  FINANCE  137 

capital  "was  kept  strictly  within  the  limits  of  safety, 
and  this  would  give  a  complete  guaranty  to  the  sound- 
ness of  the  issue. 

The  commission  recommends  as  a  bank  best  suited 
to  the  people  of  this  country  an  institution  with  a  foun- 
dation share  capital  limited  to  loans  on  agricultural 
real  estate  within  a  circumscribed  area.  The  minimum 
capital  should  not  be  less  than  $10,000,  with  compul- 
sory increase,  either  by  accumulation  of  surplus  funds 
or  sale  of  capital  stock  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in 
the  volume  of  its  business. 

Also,  in  the  judgment  of  the  commission,  any  legis- 
lation providing  for  the  establishment  of  land  mort- 
gage banks  should  authorize  the  establishment  of  co- 
operative as  well  as  private  joint-stock  institutions. 
Any  attempt  to  force  all  of  our  rural  banking  institu- 
tions into  one  rigid  form  would  probably  f aiL  In  these 
cooperative  or  private  stock  banking  institutions  there 
should  be  no  difference  in  the  methods  of  doing  busi- 
ness, the  only  difference  being  in  the  form  of  organiza- 
tion. 

STATE    AID    TO    BUHAI,    CREDIT. 

The  question  of  state  aid  to  rural  banking  systems 
is  one  of  great  significance.  In  this  country  there  has 
been  a  persistent  opposition  to  the  aiding  of  any  bank- 
ing system  by  the  nation  or  the  State.  Nevertheless, 
the  country  has  been  honeycombed  with  state  banks, 
and  in  former  years  with  most  disastrous  effects  in  some 
of  the  States.  The  State  will  have  a  greater  interest 
in  a  banking  system  in  which  it  has  a  financial  interest 
than  it  can  have  in  any  other  way.  Therefore,  as  a 
means  of  security  and  conservatism  of  administration, 
it  seems  advisable  that  the  nation  or  the  States  should 
extend  some  financial  aid  to  the  banking  system. 


138  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

In  Europe  the  rural  banks  are  often  helped  by  the 
State.  In  Austria,  in  fact,  the  mortgage  banks  are 
strictly  state  or  provincial  institutions  whose  bonds  are 
guaranteed  by  the  State  or  province  chartering  the 
banks.  In  France,  the  State  gives  a  subsidy  of  $2,000,- 
000  to  the  Credit  Foncier,  and  also  gives  it  a  monop- 
oly of  the  long-term  mortgage  business.  The  rest  of 
the  capital,  however,  of  the  Credit  Foncier  has  been 
raised  by  the  sale  of  its  stock,  and  in  all  of  the  essen- 
tial principles  of  its  administration  it  corresponds  to 
the  ordinary  banking  system  of  the  United  States,  with 
the  difference  that  certain  special  privileges  are  granted 
to  the  Credit  Foncier  by  the  State  in  order  to  aid  more 
readily  these  long-time  investments. 

The  Commission  finds  that  in  every  instance  in  Eu- 
rope where  government  capital  has  been  granted  to  es- 
tablish mortgage  credit,  the  results  have  been  favorable 
to  the  agricultural  interests  of  that  nation,  but  it  is 
their  opinion  that  such  aid  should  not  be  extended  in 
the  United  States.  With  a  farm  property  the  value  of 
which  is  computed  at  $40,000,000,000,  and  is  rapidly 
increasing  in  value,  the  commission  is  of  the  opinion 
that  this  value  is  as  stable  as  the  foundations  of  our 
Government  and  is  sufficient  to  attract  capital  in  ample 
volume  to  improve  and  cultivate  its  area  without  sub- 
vention from  our  Treasury. 

DIFFICULTIES   ARISING   FROM    SPABSENESS    OF 
POPULATION. 

I,  of  course,  do  not  like  to  inject  any  personal  opinion 
against  the  consensus  of  so  wise  a  body  of  men  as  that 
composing  this  rural  commission.  However,  I  call  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  our  agricultural  population  is 
much  more  segregated  than  in  Germany.  It  will  be 


FARM  FINANCE  139 

much  more  difficult  to  get  them  together  and  imbue  them 
with  a  common  purpose.  The  idea  of  pooling  the  total 
value  of  the  land  in  a  community  would  be  most  shock- 
ing to  our  rural  centers.  As  a  result,  any  legislation 
looking  to  the  establishment  of  such  a  system  of  banks 
would  take  root  but  slowly.  It  is  important,  however, 
that  some  such  system  be  speedily  established  for  eco- 
nomic reasons  to  the  farmer.  In  my  opinion  the  es- 
tablishment of  this  system  would  go  on  much  more 
rapidly  if  at  first  some  guaranty  could  be  attached, 
either  of  the  nation  or  of  the  States.  When  the  system 
is  fully  understood  by  our  people  and  its  value  appre- 
ciated, then  State  and  national  aid  may  be  withdrawn 
without  damage. 

CONCLUSIONS   OF   THE   COMMISSION. 

Without  going  further  into  the  discussion  of  the  vari- 
ous details  of  the  proposed  banking  system,  I  shall  con- 
tent myself  with  giving  the  conclusions  of  the  commis- 
sion in  regard  to  this  most  interesting  matter : 

Day  by  day  we  are  using  the  power  of  the  whole  people  to 
do  more  cheaply  or  more  efficiently  some  duty  which  had  hith- 
erto been  performed  by  the  individual.  In  agriculture  we  have 
been  a  pioneer  people,  actively  engaged  in  taking  possession  of 
the  surface  of  a  great  empire.  Our  farmers  have  been  en- 
gaged in  the  hard  labor  of  improving  their  farms,  building 
school-houses  and  churches,  and  constructing  bridges  and  roads 
for  the  public  welfare.  Science  has  but  recently  informed  us 
that  the  fertility  of  our  soils  must  be  maintained  and  where 
depleted  must  be  restored.  We  all  know  that  our  herds  of 
meat-bearing  animals  must  be  increased. 

While  it  may  be  said  that  these  duties  pertain  particularly 
to  the  individual  farmers,  it  can  be  answered  in  reply  that  farm- 
ers have  not  been  able  to  accumulate  sufficient  free  capital  to 
meet  the  present  situation.  Our  population  has  grown  more 
rapidly  than  our  agriculture  has  been  able  to  expand  on  a  scien- 


140  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

tifle  basis.  It  has  been  possible  for  our  railroads  and  other 
highly  organized  industries  to  look  forward  to  the  future  and 
estimate  the  rapidly  growing  demands  of  the  public  on  their 
services.  And  yet,  in  many  directions,  we  can  see  that  our 
population  has  outrun  the  ability  of  our  public-service  corpora- 
tions to  serve  them  efficiently. 

Agriculture  has  been  the  one  great  national  industry  which 
has  been  without  organization  and  has  been  absolutely  helpless 
before  the  wonderful  growth  of  our  Nation.  Therefore,  the 
financing  of  our  farms  has  become  a  national  problem.  The 
savings  of  the  Nation  must  flow  out  to  the  farms  in  order  to  put 
agriculture  on  a  proper  basis  as  compared  with  other  organized 
industries.  This  can  only  be  done  by  wise  and  patriotic  legis- 
lation. Farm  securities  must  be  honored  by  Nation,  by  State, 
and  by  individual.  Fortunately  everybody  will  profit  by  such 
cooperation.  The  investor  —  from  the  smallest  creditor  to  the 
largest  capitalist  —  can  purchase  a  security  which  has  been 
thoroughly  investigated  by  a  bank  under  strict  Government 
inspection,  and  which  in  addition  is  guaranteed  by  the  capital 
of  the  bank.  He  has  secured  a  bond  which  is  practically  as 
safe  as  a  security  can  be.  The  owner  of  the  property  has  been 
equally  accommodated,  since  he  can  readily  secure  a  loan  on 
his  property  up  to  50  per  cent,  of  its  value.  The  general  pub- 
lic will  be  greatly  benefited,  because  the  cost  of  living  will  al- 
ways be  predicated  upon  the  great  law  of  supply  of  foodstuffs 
produced  from  the  earth,  and  the  volume  consumed  by  the  peo- 
ple who  inhabit  the  earth. 

There  should  be  no  hesitation,  therefore,  in  enacting  legisla- 
tion which  will  give  land-mortgage  bonds  —  which  are  the  basis 
of  all  true  long-term  rural  credit  —  that  favorable  position 
which  is  always  accorded  State  and  Federal  bonds,  for  both  are 
based  on  the  public  wealth  and  are  issued  to  strengthen  and  to 
perpetuate  our  Nation. 

In  closing  this  section  of  its  report  the  commission  desires  to 
refer  to  the  fact  that  the  commercial  world  has  had  constructed 
for  it  a  magnificent  system  of  commercial  banks ;  the  frugal  la- 
borers and  savers  of  the  cities  have  their  system  of  savings 
banks  and  building  and  loan  associations,  and  the  great  corpo- 
rations have  their  trust  companies.  All  of  these  and  other  sim- 
ilar financial  institutions  assist  in  the  financing  of  the  agricul- 
tural industry  to  some  extent,  but  none  of  them  is  adequate  or 


FARM  FINANCE  141 

can  be  made  adequate  to  supply  this  special  need  without  a  sac- 
rifice to  their  present  field  of  endeavor.  The  commission  rec- 
ognizes that  too  great  ease  in  borrowing  should  not  be  encour- 
aged, since  this  might  result  in  an  unreasonable  increase  in  farm 
debt.  On  the  other  hand,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  under 
the  present  system  tenancy  continues  to  increase  and  farmers 
have  outstanding  obligations  easily  exceeding  two  billions  of 
dollars  secured  by  mortgages  on  their  farms,  much  of  which 
was  negotiated  under  very  unfavorable  circumstances  and  with 
very  high  rates  of  interest.  It  is  believed  that  under  the  plans 
which  have  been  formulated  herein,  and  which  are  intended  to 
be  supplementary  to  the  existing  system,  tenancy  may  be  de- 
creased, the  needs  of  farmers  be  taken  care  of,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  outstanding  obligations  may  be  refunded  on  much 
more  favorable  terms  and  gradually  reduced  by  the  regular 
payment  of  small  annual  instalments  impossible  under  the 
general  system  now  found  in  this  country. 

As  carrying  out  the  conclusions  reached  by  this  commission 
in  its  efforts  to  formulate  a  plan  for  the  creation  of  land-mort- 
gage banks,  a  form  of  bill  has  been  drafted,  which  is  attached 
to  this  report  as  a  part  thereof,  and  which  is  respectfully  rec- 
ommended to  the  consideration  of  Congress  as  an  outline  of 
legislation  providing  adequate  facilities  for  meeting  the  needs 
of  the  farmers  for  long-term  or  land-mortgage  credit. 

As  a  result  of  its  deliberations  and  of  the  hearings 
before  the  various  committees,  the  Commission  sug- 
gested a  form  of  a  bill  to  be  considered  by  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  entitled 

A  bill  to  provide  for  the  establishment,  operation,  and 
supervision  of  a  national  farm-land  bank  system  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  for  the  creation  of  depositaries  for  pos- 
tal savings  and  other  public  funds,  and  for  other  purposes. 

Various  efforts  have  been  made  to  secure  the  consid- 
eration of  this  bill  at  the  present  session  of  Congress. 
Other  matters,  however,  of  public  interest,  and  espe- 
cially the  debates  on  the  repeal  of  the  free  toll  clause  in 
the  operation  of  the  Panama  Canal  and  the  time  spent 


142          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

in  the  discussion  of  more  efficient  methods  of  controlling 
trust  operations,  have  convinced  the  leaders  of  the  dom- 
inant party  that  there  will  he  no  time  left  for  the  con- 
sideration of  this  bill  during  the  present  session. 

That  such  an  act,  however,  as  has  been  outlined 
above  and  the  title  of  which  is  given,  will  become  a  law 
in  the  near  future,  there  is  little  doubt.  Inasmuch  as 
the  proposed  legislation  will  probably  be  radically 
changed  before  it  becomes  a  law,  it  would  be  a  useless 
consumption  of  space  to  given  even  an  outline  of  it.  The 
commission  has  gone  over  the  whole  subject  most  care- 
fully, and  has  tried  to  safeguard  not  only  the  interests 
of  the  farmers  themselves,  but  also  of  the  banking  sys- 
tem as  a  whole,  in  the  various  provisions  of  the  bill. 
One  important  Section  is  No.  18,  which  provides: 

That  every  national  farm-land  bank  incorporated  under  the 
terms  of  this  act  and  the  capital  stock  and  surplus  therein  and 
the  income  derived  therefrom  and  the  mortgages  and  deeds  of 
trust  (and  the  notes  and  bonds  secured  thereby)  held  by  said 
bank  and  the  national  land-bank  bonds  issued  by  the  same  shall 
be  exempt  from  Federal,  State,  and  local  taxation,  except  in 
respect  to  taxes  upon  real  estate. 

RESTRICTION    ON   THE   USE   OF   BORROWED   MONEY. 

Another  important  provision,  which  has  already  been 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  discussion,  is  found  as  a 
part  of  Section  16.  In  this  Section  it  is  provided  that: 

Every  national  farm-land  bank  shall  have  the  following 
specific  powers: 

To  make  loans  upon  farm  lands  anywhere  within  the  State 
in  which  such  national  farm-land  bank  is  operated:  Provided, 

(1)  That  such  loans  are  made  for  not  more  than  thirty-five 
years. 

(2)  That  such  loans  are  secured  by  a  first  mortgage  or  first 
deed  of  trust  on  farm  lands. 


FAEM  FINANCE  143 

(3)  That  such  loans  shall  be  made  for  any  of  the  following 
purposes : 

(a)  To  complete  the  purchase  of  the  agricultural  lands  mort- 
gaged. 

(b)  To  improve  and  equip  such  lands  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. 

(c)  To  pay  and  discharge  debts  secured  by  mortgages  or 
deeds  of  trust  on  said  lands. 

(4)  That  such  loans  do  not  exceed  fifty  per  centum  in 
amount  in  the  case  of  improved  farm  lands,  and  do  not  exceed 
forty  per  centum  in  amount  in  other  cases,  of  the  value  of  the 
said  lands;  to  be  determined  by  an  appraisal,  as  provided  in 
this  act. 

(5)  That  every  such  farm-land  loan  contain  a  mandatory 
provision  for  the  amortization  of  such  loan,  or  reduction  of 
the  same  by  annual  or  semi-annual  payments  on  account  of 
principal :    Provided,  That  the  loan  extends  over  a  period  ex- 
ceeding five  years. 

(6)  That  every  such  loan  may  be  paid  off  in  whole  or  in  part 
by  the  borrower,  in  accordance  with  rules  to  be  prescribed  by 
the  commissioner  of  farm-land  banks,  at  any  interest  period, 
after  such  loan  has  continued  for  five  years,  by  the  payment  of 
the  whole  or  a  part  of  such  loan,  with  interest  to  such  date, 
after  crediting  the  amortization  payments  on  the  same  as  and 
when  they  were  made. 

In  a  final  review  of  this  most  interesting  subject  I 
may  say  that,  as  a  result  of  the  investigations  which 
have  been  made  by  the  United  States  commission  and 
the  wise  recommendations  which  they  have  made  in  re- 
gard to  the  matter,  the  whole  system  of  rural  credits 
in  this  country  may  soon  be  placed  upon  an  entirely 
new  basis.  In  this  transformation  not  only  will  the 
farmer  be  able  to  get  his  money  at  a  lower  rate  and  for 
a  longer  time,  but  he  will  be  supervised  in  the  applica- 
tion of  it  for  the  specific  purposes  for  which  it  was  ob- 
tained. Meanwhile  the  borrower,  on  account  of  the 
increased  value  and  stability  of  the  security,  will  be 
perfectly  content  to  let  his  money  go  at  a  lower  rate 


144          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

of  interest  in  the  feeling  of  absolute  certainty  that  there 
is  no  possibility  of  his  ever  losing  any  part  of  it.  Both 
borrower  and  lender  will  thus  be  benefited,  and  agri- 
cultural prosperity  will  be  promoted  and  increased. 


A    GIANT      CHESTNUT,     TWENTY-FOUR      FEET     IN     CIHCUMKEKENCE THE 

LARGEST    TKEE    IN    LOUDOUN    COUNTY 

"  The  chestnut  not  only  produces  u  large  quantity   of   oil,   but   also  a  large  quantity 

of  starch  " 


TIIK  KOHKHT 

Iu  tin-  f.T. -i    li.    run  ,i,in.l   with  Hi.'  In-o  iiml  C...I  us  hi*  iimlitori  " 


XVII 

"BACK  TO  THE  FARM!  " 

MY  father  told  me  (and  I  often  heard  him  tell  other 
boys  in  the  country  where  I  was  brought  up,  for 
the  purpose  of  inducing  them  to  stay  at  home  and  not 
go  to  the  city),  the  following  story:  "  A  farmer  with 
three  sons  was  asked  what  he  purposed  to  make  of  them. 
He  replied :  '  John  is  the  brightest  of  my  boys,  the 
most  industrious,  anxious  to  work,  and  quick  to  learn. 
I  am  going  to  make  a  farmer  of  him.  Sam  would 
rather  talk  than  work,  and  is  fond  of  telling  all  he 
knows  and  much  that  he  imagines.  I  am  going  to 
make  a  lawyer  of  him.  Thomas  is  the  laziest  one  of 
all  my  boys.  In  fact,  he  is  so  lazy  that  he  never  gets 
into  any  trouble  of  any  kind.  I  am  going  to  make  a 
preacher  of  him.' ' 

This  story  may  be  a  little  hard  on  the  other  profes- 
sions, but  it  illustrates  the  contention  which  will  some 
day  be  acknowledged  by  the  whole  country,  namely,  that 
farming  requires  the  greatest  industry,  the  keenest  in- 
tellect, and  the  best  training  of  all  of  the  professions. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  last  census 
is  the  record  of  decreasing  population  in  agricultural 
centers  and  increasing  population  in  the  great  cities. 
The  tide  of  settlement  which  for  many  years  had  been 
flowing  toward  the  unoccupied  lands  of  the  country 
has  now  turned,  and  is  flowing  toward  the  large  cities. 
The  result  is  of  course  easily  foreseen.  The  number 

145 


146          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

of  consumers  of  food  products  is  constantly  growing 
greater,  the  number  of  producers  smaller.  This  is  not 
necessarily  a  cause  for  alarm.  Fortunately  there  have 
been  established  in  this  country  a  number  of  agricul- 
tural colleges  and  experiment-stations  in  which  the  prin- 
ciples of  scientific  agriculture  are  taught.  Methods  of 
checking  the  depletion  of  the  soil  and  of  recovering 
exhausted  fields  have  now  been  well  developed  and 
are  practically  enforced.  Moreover,  improvements  in 
farm  machinery  have  rendered  the  labor  of  the  farmer 
more  productive.  I  believe  it  may  be  said  with  a  fair 
degree  of  accuracy  that  a  day's  skilled  labor  on  the 
farm  at  the  present  time  produces  twice  as  much  food 
as  it  did  fifty  years  ago,  and  although  the  country  dis- 
tricts have  been  to  a  certain  extent  depopulated  and  the 
cities  overpopulated,  the  supply  of  the  products  of  the 
soil  in  the  way  of  food  and  clothing  has  more  than  kept 
pace  with  the  increase  in  population.  Yet  the  curious 
condition  has  arisen  that  while  the  consumer  in  the  city 
pays  a  great  deal  more  for  what  he  eats  and  wears  than 
he  did  a  few  decades  ago,  the  farmer  in  the  country 
gets  little,  if  any,  more  for  his  products. 

The  result  of  this  condition  of  affairs  is  that  while 
in  many  respects  the  cost  of  living  on  the  farm  has  been 
increased  through  the  desire  of  the  farmer  to  give  a 
better  education  to  his  children  and  to  be  the  possessor 
of  more  of  the  luxuries  of  life,  he  has  not  been  secur- 
ing a  corresponding  increase  in  his  income.  More- 
over, the  price  of  farm  labor  has  greatly  increased.  In 
the  old  days  a  good  hand  would  work  on  the  farm  by 
the  year  for  twelve  or  thirteen  dollars  a  month  and  his 
board.  This,  too,  meant  real  work;  for  the  farm-hand 
was  expected  to  be  up  early  in  the  morning,  to  help  feed 
and  care  for  the  stock,  and  perhaps  help  with  the  milk- 


"BACK  TO  THE  FARM!  "  147 

ing;  and  with  only  short  intermissions  for  meals,  his 
work  went  on  till  dark,  no  matter  how  long  the  day. 
I  am  not  an  advocate  for  such  long  hours  of  labor;  I 
am  only  stating  conditions  as  they  formerly  existed. 
This  was  the  condition  of  affairs  that  has  led  Abe  Mar- 
tin, the  Hoosier  philosopher,  to  say,  "  Twelve  dollars 
a  month  an'  no  picture-shows  makes  Jack  leave  the 
farm."  At  the  present  time  the  laborer  is  not  expected 
to  begin  work  until  seven  o'clock,  and  he  has  an  inter- 
mission of  an  hour  at  noon,  and  "  knocks  off  "  at  six. 
At  the  same  time  he  is  not  satisfied  with  seventy-five 
cents  or  a  dollar  a  day,  but  must  have  a  dollar  and  a 
quarter  for  ordinary  labor,  while  at  harvest  and  corn- 
gathering  his  wages  rise  to  two  dollars  or  more  a  day. 
Paying  cash  for  labor  is  a  burden  to  the  farmer  which 
is  well-nigh  intolerable;  and  yet  if  he  does  his  own 
work,  he  must  either  have  a  very  small  farm  or  a  very 
large  family  of  boys  and  girls,  who,  moreover,  are  likely 
to  leave  him  as  they  approach  their  majority.  It  is 
not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  cry,  "  Back  to  the 
farm !  "  fails  to  appeal  to  the  boy  and  the  man  in  the 
city. 

WHY   THE   BOY   LEAVES    THE    FARM. 

Why  does  the  boy  —  not  the  lazy  boy,  but  the  boy 
of  industrious  habits  —  leave  the  farm  in  the  first  place  ? 
Because  of  his  desire  for  a  greater  opportunity.  He 
sees  in  the  city  a  greater  future  for  himself  than  he  can 
possibly  expect  on  the  farm,  and  he  will  continue  to  go 
just  as  long  as  city  life  offers  greater  chances  for  suc- 
cess and  a  happier  existence.  Have  we  ever  studied 
the  psychology  of  the  farmer's  boy  who  has  seriously 
considered  his  own  future?  These  musings  are  doubt- 
less very  much  alike.  I  remember  my  own  mental  at- 


148  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

titude.  I  was  born  near  the  Ohio  Kiver,  and  could 
hear  the  whistle  and  see  the  smoke  of  the  passing  boats. 
When  I  lay  under  the  wide-spreading  beech-tree  dur- 
ing my  midday  rest,  I  did  not  dream  of  a  future  on  the 
farm.  My  thoughts  followed  the  southward-moving 
steamboat  down  to  the  Mississippi,  down  past  Memphis 
and  Vicksburg,  down  to  the  cane-fields  of  Louisiana,  to 
New  Orleans  and  the  gulf.  My  ambition  was  some 
day  to  get  a  passage  on  one  of  those  boats  and  seek  my 
career  and  my  fortune  in  the  South.  Other  boys  on 
the  farm  have  similar  dreams. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  do  to  stop  the  flowing  of  the 
best  blood  of  the  farm  to  the  city?  The  answer,  it 
seems  to  me,  is  a  simple  one:  make  the  farm  a  more 
productive  place  than  the  city,  and  its  prospects  for  a 
career  more  certain.  It  is  true  that  it  is  useless  to 
hold  up  to  the  future  farmer  dreams  of  wealth  such  as 
that  which  is  acquired  on  Wall  Street,  though  it  will 
be  easy  to  show  that  Wall  Street  wealth  is  not  the  re- 
sult of  productive  industry,  but  is  the  gleaning  and 
reaping  from  the  wealth  of  others.  It  is  speculative 
wealth,  a  form  of  acquirement  which  will  some  day  be 
forbidden  by  law.  On  the  contrary,  there  can  be  held 
up  to  the  intending  farmer  of  the  future  a  wealth  of 
independence,  of  joy,  and  of  productive  industry  which, 
joined  with  a  fair  monetary  reward,  should  be,  and 
probably  will  be,  more  alluring  than  the  city  life  of  to- 
day. It  is  useless  to  preach  to  the  boy  of  the  dangers 
of  temptation.  He  is  willing  to  take  his  chances,  be- 
cause his  neighbor  and  playmate  has  gone  to  the  city 
and  is  earning  more  money  in  some  modest  employment 
than  he  could  ever  dream  of  earning  on  the  farm.  A 
salary  of  even  fifty  dollars  a  month  attracts  him  might- 
ily, and  when  he  thinks  of  the  possibility  of  getting  as 


"BACK  TO  THE  FARM!  "  149 

much  as  a  hundred  dollars  a  month,  it  is  a  promise  of 
opulence.  In  addition  to  this,  he  has  the  city  lights, 
the  city  streets,  the  city  amusements,  and  the  stimulus 
of  companions,  all  of  which  appeal  to  a  boy,  and  all  of 
which  are  natural  desires. 

•VTA-R-TT,    FABM    LIFE    ATTRACTIVE. 

The  simple  fact  remains,  however,  that  life  in  the 
country  is  the  normal  life.  The  man  who  does  not 
touch  the  fresh-turned  sod,  make  his  way  through  the 
forest,  follow  the  plow  in  the  field,  or  gather  the  cattle 
at  night,  it  seems  to  me,  is  missing  the  charm  of  ex- 
istence. The  glories  of  country  life  have  hitherto  ex- 
isted only  in  song  and  story;  but  at  present  there  are 
movements  in  various  parts  of  the  world  to  make  it 
attractive.  There  are  numerous  magazines  and  news- 
papers devoted  to  rural  life,  and  not  only  papers  which 
teach  practical  agriculture,  the  care  of  registered  stock, 
the  growing  of  fowls,  etc.,  but  newspapers  and  periodi- 
cals devoted  to  the  pleasures  of  the  country  and  the  in- 
spiration of  country  life.  Communities  are  forming, 
with  clubs  and  associations,  which  offer  to  the  persons 
living  in  the  country  many  of  the  advantages  of  life  in 
the  city.  Country  life  is  becoming  less  isolated  and 
more  communal.  People  are  beginning  to  understand 
that  it  is  not  well  to  build  the  house  and  the  barn  in  the 
middle  of  a  large  farm,  but  rather  on  the  corner  ad- 
joining a  neighbor's  house  and  barn.  In  fact,  every 
four  farmers  might  form  a  little  community  of  them- 
selves by  building  their  farm-houses  in  adjoining  cor- 
ners. In  this  way,  even  if  the  weather  were  stormy, 
there  could  be  society  in  the  evening,  and  the  neighbors 
could  como  together  and  discuss  affairs  of  common  in- 
terest 


150  THE  LUKE  OF  THE  LAND 

The  church  and  the  school-house  are  also  becoming 
places  of  social  enjoyment.  In  one  or  two  places  clubs 
have  been  formed  and  houses  erected  where  the  farmers 
can  gather  as  they  do  in  a  city  club,  and  these  are 
equipped  with  a  library,  a  gymnasium,  billiard-tables, 
and  a  swimming-pool.  One  of  the  curses  of  country 
life  is  muddy  and  impassable  roads.  Good  roads  are 
now  being  built  throughout  the  country,  and  these  will 
do  much  toward  making  country  life  attractive,  because 
they  mean  ease  of  access  and  more  intimate  association, 
as  well  as  economic  advantages. 

The  electric  trolley  is  carrying  the  city  into  the  coun- 
try, and  making  it  possible  for  those  who  have  business 
in  the  city  to  live  in  the  country  and  have  a  little  farm 
or.  garden  of  their  own.  The  wise  managers  of  great 
factories  are  now  going  into  the  country  and  building 
their  factories  in  the  midst  of  estates.  One  of  the 
largest  factories  in  Massachusetts  has  grown  up  where 
every  employee  has  an  acre  or  more  of  land  on  which 
vegetables  and  other  foods  are  grown.  They  have  an 
agricultural  fair  every  year  which  rivals  the  county 
fair  in  the  wealth  of  its  exhibits,  all  of  which  are  grown 
by  the  employees.  This  is  indeed  bringing  the  city 
into  the  country.  Another  Massachusetts  corporation 
with  many  thousand  employees  makes  the  following 
statement  in  its  recent  circular: 

Instead  of  setting  the  factory  in  the  midst  of  a  thickly  pop- 
ulated community,  the  Company  chose  a  spot  near  the  seashore, 
in  a  beautiful  rolling  country,  where  in  a  tract  of  three  hun- 
dred acres  there  would  be  ample  opportunity  for  the  devel^p- 
ment  of  advanced  ideas.  Among  other  things  the  officials  felt 
that  as  far  as  possible  the  employees  should  own  their  homes 
and  from  the  beginning  they  have  stood  ready  to  facilitate 
this  object  so  far  as  they  were  able  without  going  into  the  real 
estate  business,  or  making  heads  of  families  feel  that  the  re- 


\ 

"BACK  TO  THE  FARM!  "  151 

tention  of  their  homes  may  be  affected  in  any  way  by  their 
continuance  in  the  Company's  employ. 

No  one  can  doubt  the  stimulating  effect  of  such  a 
community  upon  all  the  farms  and  all  the  farmers  in 
its  vicinity. 

Every  such  settlement  of  the  country  not  only  bene- 
fits the  laborers  and  employees  of  the  factory,  but  also 
stimulates  and  encourages  the  enterprising  farmer. 
When  man  in  his  wisdom  has  spread  over  the  surface 
of  the  land  somewhat  more  evenly  than  at  the  present 
time,  there  will  no  longer  be  isolated  spots,  producing 
melancholia  and  even  insanity  in  their  lonely  inhabi- 
tants. The  city  is  not  a  place  of  production,  but  only 
of  exchange,  and  the  wise  city  of  the  future  will  not  in- 
vite factories  of  a  productive  nature,  but  will  exclude 
them.  Unfortunately  the  great  rivalry  between  cities 
to-day  is  not  so  much  for  the  welfare  of  their  individual 
citizens,  the  education  of  their  people,  wise  and  eco- 
nomic nutrition,  libraries  and  museums,  but  simply 
for  population.  The  classification  of  cities  for  legal 
and  other  purposes  is  made  solely  on  the  basis  of  their 
total  population.  Thus  by  act  of  the  legislature  we 
have  cities  of  the  first  class  and  cities  of  the  second 
class  in  which  the  division  is  made  on  the  basis  of  the 
number  of  inhabitants.  The  keen  rivalry  among  cities 
to  lead  in  the  number  of  their  population  is  well  known. 
One  may  cite,  for  instance,  the  competition  between 
Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  between  Philadelphia 
and  Chicago,  and  just  now  between  St.  Louis  and 
Boston.  Even  New  York  aspires  in  the  near  future 
to  rival  London  not  in  the  kind  and  character  of  its 
people,  but  in  numbers  alone.  So  far  as  can  be 
seen,  this  sort  of  rivalry  is  destined  long  to  continue. 
Even  in  the  capital  of  the  country  a  movement  is  on 


152  THE  LURE  OP  THE  LAND 

foot  to  encourage  the  establishment  of  factories,  hoping 
thus  to  attract  a  greater  number  of  people !  Washing- 
ton at  least  should  be  the  one  city  where  the  productive 
factory  is  unknown. 

As  I  have  said  in  another  chapter,  the  house  of  the 
farmer  is  now  being  improved  in  such  a  way  as  to  make 
him  as  comfortable  as  if  he  lived  in  the  city.  The  con- 
veniences of  bath  and  lavatory  are  now  being  installed 
in  many  farm-houses,  and  the  sewage  therefrom  is 
handled  in  a  scientific  manner,  thus  improving  sanitary 
conditions  and  making  life  more  comfortable  and  dis- 
ease less  imminent. 

I  am  now  building  on  my  farm  a  double  tenement 
house  for  the  hands  I  hire  by  the  year  and  their  fam- 
ilies. So  far  as  I  know  these  houses  for  the  hands  are 
the  only  ones  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  are  found 
hot  and  cold  water,  bathrooms  and  water  closets.  The 
materials  and  workmanship  of  the  house  are  of  the  best. 
Perhaps  other  farmers  may  see  the  humanity  and  sani- 
tation of  a  septic  tank. 

MAKE    FABMING    PEOFITABLE. 

All  of  this,  however,  is  not  sufficient  to  keep  people 
in  the  country.  The  pursuit  of  agriculture  must  be- 
come more  profitable  if  the  country  is  to  reach  its  full 
fruition.  Scientific  agriculture  will  help,  but  to  bring 
the  consumer  and  the  farmer  into  more  intimate  con- 
tact is  most  important  of  all.  This  will  surely  be  ac- 
complished by  establishing  factories  in  rural  districts, 
where  farmers  can  sell  direct  to  the  employees  of  the 
works.  At  the  present  prices  for  commodities  which 
the  farmer  must  buy,  he  cannot  expect  to  be  financially 
successful  with  wheat  at  a  dollar  a  bushel  and  fat  beeves 
at  seven  dollars  a  hundred  pounds. 


"BACK  TO  THE  FARM!  "  153 

Let  me  repeat  what  I  have  said  elsewhere  in  this 
book  and  give  a  bill  of  particulars.  I  am  a  fairly  good 
farmer,  born  and  bred  on  a  farm,  and  I  direct  (un- 
fortunately in  absentia  most  of  the  time)  a  reasonably 
good  farm.  My  tenant  sold  wheat  of  the  crop  of  last 
summer  as  low  as  eighty-four  cents  a  bushel  within  one 
hundred  miles  of  Baltimore,  which  is  a  great  wheat 
market.  The  cost  of  transportation  to  Baltimore  is  a 
little  over  six  cents  a  bushel,  so  that  the  price  in  Balti- 
more at  the  time  was  ninety  cents.  This  wheat  was 
grown  on  land  fertilized  with  so-called  commercial  fer- 
tilizer, and  a  careful  record  of  all  the  expenditures,  with 
all  reasonable  charges  against  the  land,  interest  on  the 
investment,  taxes,  etc.,  left  only  a  very  small  profit. 

Again,  I  bought  stock  cattle  the  last  of  November, 
1910,  at  $46.50  a  head.  I  kept  them  for  about  a  year, 
and  sold  them  for  $61.00  a  head.  If  I  allow  only  five 
cents  a  day  for  the  feed  and  care  of  these  animals,  I  come 
out  of  the  transaction  with  a  loss  of  more  than  three 
dollars  a  head.  These  fat  cattle  weighed  almost  exactly 
1200  pounds,  and  were  sold  at  the  railway  station  three 
miles  from  the  farm  at  the  rate  of  $5.30  per  hundred- 
weight If  I,  after  long  experience  of  practical  farm- 
ing and  long  study  of  scientific  farming,  am  scarcely 
able,  or  not  able,  to  make  farming  pay  one  hundred 
miles  from  Baltimore  and  only  sixty  miles  from  Wash- 
ington, are  others  likely  to  succeed  better  ?  Yes,  I  may 
answer,  if  those  others  spend  their  days  upon  the  farm, 
take  part  in  its  labors,  and  personally  direct  all  of  its 
affairs. 

These  are  not  theoretical  conjectures,  but  figures 
from  actual  experience.  A  like  bill  of  particulars  could 
be  given  for  every  article  grown  on  the  farm,  where 
labor  is  all  paid  for  and  a  correct  account  kept  of  all 


164          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

just  charges.  The  reason  the  fanner  thinks  he  is  mak- 
ing money  when  he  is  doing  work  like  this  is  because 
he  pays  himself  nothing,  does  not  charge  himself  rent, 
takes  no  account  of  interest  on  the  land  or  of  the  ex- 
penses of  its  maintenance.  He  thinks  he  is  making 
twenty  dollars  on  every  steer  that  he  fattens  and  sells, 
or  fifty  cents  on  every  bushel  of  wheat  he  grows,  when 
in  point  of  fact  he  is  probably  running  in  debt  on  both 
counts. 

THE    MIDDLEMAN   USEFUL. 

I  am  not  in  sympathy  with  the  theory  that  the  mid- 
dleman is  unnecessary.  I  do  not  see  how  I,  as  a  farmer 
in  Loudoun  County,  Virginia,  can  take  my  products 
to  New  York  and  sell  them  direct  to  the  consumer.  I 
do  not  believe  that  the  railways  of  the  country  are  eat- 
ing up  the  farmers'  profits.  In  this  country,  under  the 
present  method  of  distribution,  the  railway  is  the  salva- 
tion of  agriculture.  Without  the  railway,  the  cost  of 
bringing  food  commodities  to  the  great  cities  would  be 
immensely  increased,  and  the  price  paid  to  the  farmer 
would  correspondingly  diminish,  while  the  price  paid 
by  the  consumer  would  correspondingly  increase. 
Moreover,  trade  in  food  products  could  not  be  carried  on 
without  the  wholesaler  and  the  retailer.  They  are,  like 
the  railway,  necessary  to  distribution.  But  in  farming 
as  in  logic  we  do  not  want  too  much  undistributed 
middle. 

The  true  problem  to  be  solved  is  the  regulation  of 
these  avenues  of  transportation  and  methods  of  distri- 
bution, not  their  suppression.  It  might  be  well  to  ask, 
though,  if  there  are  not  too  many  railways,  too  many 
brokers  and  wholesale  and  retail  merchants.  In  other 
words,  one  of  the  principal  problems  relating  to  country 


"  BACK  TO  THE  FARM!  "  155 

life  is  undoubtedly  that  which  is  connected  with  the 
transportation  and  distribution  of  agricultural  products. 
Extreme  difficulty  will  attend  the  solution  of  this  prob- 
lem. The  trades,  as  they  are  now  established,  are  very 
jealous  of  any  control  or  restrictive  legislation.  A  mere 
suggestion  that  there  might  be  some  economic  interest 
between  producer  and  consumer  is  met  with  a  chorus 
of  protests  from  interested  parties.  Petitions  have  al- 
ready been  laid  before  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  asking  him  to  muzzle  any  public  official  who 
indicates  that  there  may  be  a  necessity  of  reform  in  this 
direction. 

THE   SPIRIT    OF   COMMERCIALISM. 

It  is  astonishing  how  short-sighted  some  people  are 
in  economic  matters.  Let  me  give  an  instance.  In 
Washington  the  school  authorities  have  authorized  the 
establishment  of  a  lunch-counter  in  one  of  the  public 
high  schools  where  wholesome  and  hot  lunches  may  be 
served  at  a  few  cents  each.  This  is  intended  specially 
for  the  poorer  pupils  who  cannot  bring  good  lunches 
from  home,  but  is  also  intended  for  those  who  are  well- 
to-do,  on  the  theory  that  the  hot  lunch  is  better  than 
the  cold  one.  In  the  Washington  papers  of  December 
sixth,  there  is  an  account  of  a  protest  against  this  ar- 
rangement, which  has  been  numerously  signed  by  the 
business  men  of  the  neighborhood  of  the  school,  because 
it  interferes  with  the  profits  of  the  grocers  and  res- 
taurants in  the  vicinity ! 

It  is  this  spirit  of  selfish  commercialism  which  seems 
to  me  to  stand  in  the  way  of  a  betterment  of  conditions. 
I  do  not  claim  that  the  farmer  is  not  actuated  by  just 
as  keen  a  selfishness.  As  a  rule,  the  farmer,  I  think, 
would  not  hesitate  to  get  a  higher  price,  even  if  the  ulti- 


156 

mate  consumer  had  to  pay  more.  But  the  problem  is 
not  of  this  character ;  it  is  predicated  on  two  indisputa- 
ble facts:  first,  that  the  farmer  is  at  present  getting 
too  little  for  what  he  produces,  and,  second,  that  the 
consumer  is  paying  too  much  for  what  he  consumes. 
Somebody  or  something  in  between  must  be  eliminated ; 
not  the  system,  but  some  of  its  members  or  practices. 

A  practice  has  grown  up  in  the  army,  and  is  prob- 
ably legalized,  whereby  the  families  of  officers  are  per- 
mitted to  secure  from  the  government  stores  their  food, 
clothing,  and  coal.  In  talking  recently  with  the  wife 
of  an  army-officer  I  found  that  the  prices  paid  by  her 
for  these  necessities  of  life  are  very  much  lower  than 
those  paid  by  citizens  to  the  merchants  of  the  town. 
Naturally  the  trade  objects  to  this  distribution  of  the 
necessities  of  life  to  the  families  of  officers,  but  it  goes 
on.  Objection  may  be  made  to  this  that  it  is  not  good 
business.  It  may  be  thought  that  the  supplies  fur- 
nished to  officers'  families  at  the  cheap  rate  mentioned 
are  really  paid  for  by  the  taxpayers  of  the  country. 
Of  course  it  is  true  that  the  food  of  the  army  is  thus 
paid  for;  but  the  supplies  which  are  furnished  to  the 
officers'  families  are  furnished  at  cost,  and  do  not  im- 
pose any  burden  of  any  kind  on  the  taxpayers.  The 
army  is  compelled  to  have  its  commissaries  and  its 
quartermasters  with  their  clerks,  storehouses,  etc.,  and 
the  distribution  of  supplies  to  the  families  of  officers  is 
thus  made  without  additional  cost  to  the  Government. 

Mayor  Shank  of  Indianapolis,  acting  without  author- 
ity of  law  and  spending  not  a  penny  of  the  citizens' 
money,  has  sold  some  of  the  necessities  of  life  in  the 
open  market  of  that  city  at  a  price  considerably  below 
that  charged  in  the  public  markets.  He  made  a  spe- 
cialty of  potatoes  and  turkeys  for  Thanksgiving,  and 


"BACK  TO  THE  FARM!  *  157 

sold  directly  to  the  people  of  the  city  in  this  crude  way 
at  a  greatly  reduced  cost.  Of  course  no  profit  was 
made  on  this  transaction,  but  the  consumer  was  brought 
nearer  to  the  producer.  To  this,  objection  may  be 
made  that  Mayor  Shank's  action  is  not  "  good  business." 
No,  it  is  true  it  is  not  business  in  the  ordinary  sense  of 
the  word;  that  is,  Mayor  Shank  did  not  go  into  this 
venture  for  the  sake  of  making  money.  May  not  this 
experiment,  however,  show  what  might  well  be  accom- 
plished by  governmental  control  of  socialistic  activities  ? 
The  recent  report  of  the  Postmaster-General  shows  that 
the  calendar  year  has  closed  with  profit,  and  that  all 
the  money  which  the  Government  expended  in  carry- 
ing the  mail  has  been  refunded  by  those  who  pay  for 
stamps.  This,  perhaps,  is  not  "  business,"  but  is  there 
any  one  who  wishes  to  take  the  post-office  department 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  Government  and  to  put  it  into 
competitive  trade? 

May  I  suggest  that  although  this  is  rank  socialism, 
it  may  be  the  one  solution  of  the  problem.  The  State 
now  carries  our  letters  and  newspapers,  and  I  doubt  if 
any  combination  of  men  who  would  desire  to  secure 
control  of  this  transportation  could  influence  the  peo- 
ple of  the  country  to  take  this  away  from  the  State 
and  give  it  back  to  competitive  business.  Can  any 
valid  reason  be  presented  in  opposition  to  the  State's 
taking  charge  of  the  telephone,  the  telegraph,  and  the 
express  companies  in  the  same  manner  ?  If  this  is 
considered  to  be  a  legitimate  function  of  the  State,  has 
not  Mayor  Shank  shown  a  way  to  cheapen  existence  ? 

I  said  that  I  did  not  see  how  any  fair  argument  could 
be  presented  against  such  a  scheme.  On  further  re- 
flection, I  find  that  there  is  one.  Control  by  the  State 
naturally  would  occupy  the  services  of  only  a  portion 


158  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

of  those  who  are  now  engaged  in  business  of  this  kind. 
There  would  therefore  be  a  considerable  number  of 
people,  now  engaged  in  the  competitive  distribution  of 
food  products,  who  would  be  left  without  employment 
and  driven  to  seek  other  means  of  living.  This  might 
be  hard  on  other  over-crowded  occupations.  But  there 
is  one  occupation  which  is  not  over-crowded,  that  of 
skilful  labor  for  the  fields.  It  is  not  so  much  the  high 
price  which  the  farmer  has  to  pay  for  his  labor  as  it  is 
the  difficulty  of  getting  any  at  all.  In  wheat-harvest 
and  corn-harvest  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  men  to 
work  on  the  farm,  and  those  who  are  available  are  men 
who  are  not  skilled  and  whose  services,  even  at  much 
more  moderate  prices,  would  be  expensive. 

EETAEDINQ   EFFECT   OF   LOW   WAGES. 

But  the  question  may  be  asked,  How  can  you  expect 
people  to  go  back  to  the  farm  while  farm  wages  are  so 
low?  A  man  would  prefer  to  remain  in  the  city  in 
trade  which,  does  pay.  The  question  is,  Do  these 
trades  really  pay  ?  Is  the  man  who  works  in  the  city 
for  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  day  as  well  off  at  the  end 
of  the  year  as  the  man  who  works  on  the  farm  for 
eighteen  dollars  a  month  and  his  board,  or  for  even  less 
with  his  board  and  lodging?  In  my  opinion  the  man 
who  works  on  the  farm  and  has  his  board  and  lodging 
provided,  as  a  great  many  farm-laborers  do,  even  at  the 
small  wage  of  fifty  or  sixty  cents  a  day,  is  better  off 
at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  his  children  have  been  better 
fed,  than  the  man  who  works  in  the  city  for  two  dol- 
lars and  a  half  a  day.  The  difference  lies  in  the  social 
advantages  and  the  educational  facilities  which  the  city 
man  has,  and  not  in  the  amount  of  money  which  he 
puts  into  the  savings-bank.  If  we  could  provide  the 


"BACK  TO  THE  FAEM!  "  159 

laborer  in  the  country  with  the  same  social  and  educa- 
tional life  which  we  provide  the  laborer  in  the  city,  at 
the  end  of  the  year  the  country  man  would  be  distinctly 
ahead.  If  the  movement  to  bring  the  city  back  to  the 
country  succeeds,  an  opening,  it  seems  to  me,  would 
be  made  for  the  employment  of  those  who  might  be  left 
without  an  occupation  if  "  nationalism,"  rather  than 
"  socialism,"  were  extended  to  the  distribution  of  the 
necessities  of  life. 

There  may  be  other  and  better  ways  of  correcting 
the  evils  which  undoubtedly  exist  The  above  is  only 
a  suggestion  of  ways  that  have  already  been  tried,  and 
with  success.  When  people  come  back  from  the  city 
to  the  farm,  as  I  picture  the  farm  in  the  future,  it  will 
not  be  to  lead  a  life  of  dreary  labor,  but  rather  to  en- 
gage in  an  occupation  which  will  command  intelligence 
and  the  best  business  capacity.  The  problems  of  bi- 
ology, for  instance,  which  farm  life  presents  are  of  un- 
dying interest 

When  the  city  comes  back  to  the  country,  it  will  come 
with  culture,  with  intelligence,  and  with  knowledge. 
The  science  and  art  of  agriculture,  drafting  into  its 
service,  as  it  is  doing  at  the  present  time,  every  other 
science,  will  so  increase  productivity  that  no  Malthus 
nor  Sir  William  Crookes  will  ever  rise  again  and 
prophesy  starvation  for  humanity.  While  the  needs 
of  the  human  mouth  remain  constant,  the  skill  of  hu- 
man hands,  and  their  ability  to  produce,  are  becoming 
greater  and  greater.  As  a  rule  there  are  two  hands  to 
each  mouth,  and  these  hands  in  the  far  future,  as  far  as 
philosophy  dares  look,  will  be  able  to  supply  the  wants 
of  the  mouth. 


XVIII 
POWER  ON  THE  FARM 

MANY  years  ago,  in  an  interview  with  Mr.  Rene 
Bache,  I  suggested  the  possibility  of  the  farmer 
availing  himself  of  the  wind  as  a  convenient  source  of 
energy  for  various  purposes,  including  lighting,  heat- 
ing, and  the  driving  of  small  farm  machinery.  This 
interview  was  published  by  Mr.  Bache,  copied  in  a 
great  many  newspapers,  and  evidently  created  a  great 
interest  in  the  matter.  Beyond,  however,  an  academic 
interest,  very  little  was  done  towards  putting  this  idea 
into  execution.  I  believe  that  it  was  first  in  England 
that  it  was  put  into  practical  effect,  and  within  a  year 
or  two  a  few  wind-mills  have  been  erected  in  this  coun- 
try with  the  same  purpose  in  view. 

The  idea  is  a  simple  one,  namely,  that  as  wind  is 
one  of  the  most  widely  distributed  sources  of  power, 
any  method  by  means  of  which  it  can  be  harnessed  and 
made  uniformly  available  must  of  necessity  offer  to  the 
farmer  some  advantage  over  any  other  form  of  power 
which  can  be  utilized,  whether  of  steam,  gasoline,  or 
of  an  animal  source.  The  necessary  conditions  for 
success,  as  I  set  forth  in  my  original  paper,  were  the 
proper  construction  of  a  wind-mill  of  sufficient  capacity 
to  develop  two  or  three  horse-power  of  electricity,  com- 
bined with  a  cheap  and  inexpensive  storage  battery 
capable  of  storing  the  power  during  the  periods  of 
windy  weather,  so  that  it  could  be  utilized  in  periods 

160 


POWER  ON  THE  FARM  161 

of  calm.  It  is  evident  that  any  system  of  lighting 
about  the  farm  or  barn,  or  of  cooking  or  heating,  which 
would  be  useless  when  the  wind  was  not  blowing,  would 
not  be  of  practical  application. 

AMOUNT    OF    ENERGY    AVAILABLE. 

A  moment's  consideration  of  the  problems  involved 
will  show  that  they  are  not  insolvable.  In  the  first 
place,  the  amount  of  energy  which  is  exerted  by  the 
moving  currents  of  air  is  so  great  as  to  be  almost  im- 
measurable. If  only  a  small  fragment  of  the  total 
energy  of  moving  air  could  be  utilized,  it  would  sup- 
plant every  other  known  source  of  power.  When  you 
consider  that  a  wind-mill  of  only  eighteen  feet  in  di- 
ameter will  drive  a  dynamo  of  very  considerable  size, 
and  in  addition  to  furnishing  the  working  requirement 
store  up  any  desired  quantity  of  force  in  a  storage  bat- 
tery, you  can  readily  appreciate  the  enormous  energy 
of  the  moving  air  currents.  Particularly  appealing  to 
the  man  of  some  means  who  desires  to  go  on  a  farm 
is  this  idea  of  harnessing  the  power  of  the  air.  It  is 
simple,  clean,  inexpensive,  requires  little  attention  or 
regulation,  and  is  utilizable  in  many  different  ways. 

There  is  no  source  of  energy  so  mobile  as  electricity. 
Now  that  the  scientific  world  has  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  electricity  is  the  fundamental  constituent  of  the 
atom,  it  lies  at  the  very  basis  of  all  power  and  energy. 
The  electric  force  is  easily  applied  to  transportation, 
the  driving  of  machinery,  to  the  production  of  heat,  and 
to  the  production  of  light  Thus  it  has  the  elements 
of  universal  application.  The  perfection  of  the  elec- 
tric engine  and  storage  battery  has  made  possible  the 
driving  of  carriages  and  even  of  carriers  of  freight, 
the  electric  railway  trains,  both  in  the  city  and  on 


162          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

standard  lines,  and  the  general  adaptation  of  the  elec- 
tric force  to  all  forms  of  power  development.  It  is 
therefore  the  ideal  source  of  power  to  which  the  farmer 
would  turn  for  the  varied  needs  of  his  farm  and  farm- 
house. 

It  is  true  that  the  mechanical  development  of  this 
idea  is  still  in  its  infancy.  Many  failures  are  doubt- 
less to  be  chronicled  before  it  is  perfected.  Neverthe- 
less, there  are  already  on  the  market  types  of  electric 
turbines  which  have  been  successful  in  operation  and 
have  given  great  satisfaction.  The  matter  has  already 
been  taken  up  by  at  least  one  agricultural  experiment 
station,  namely,  that  of  North  Dakota,  and  a  Bulletin, 
namely,  No.  105,  has  been  issued  by  this  station  on  the 
subject  of  Wind-mill  Electric  Lighting  and  Power. 
Some  of  the  points  covered  by  this  Bulletin  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Since  electrical  energy  can  be  made  available  to 
the  farmer  of  average  means  for  little  or  nothing,  after 
the  plant  is  once  installed,  the  farm  will  become  a  place 
of  socM  relaxation  and  will  serve  as  a  summer  resort 
as  well  as  a  place  of  business.  It  will  be  possible  to 
have  an  abundance  of  light  throughout  the  house.  Elec- 
tricity can  be  made  to  do  the  pumping  to  supply  water 
for  the  heating  tank  or  for  any  other  place;  electric 
fans  would  lessen  the  extreme  warmth  of  the  summer, 
for  there  is  nothing  more  comfortable  for  the  men  and 
women  who  have  been  toiling  all  day  in  the  summer 
heat  than  the  cool,  refreshing  breeze  of  an  electric 
fan. 

In  the  creamery,  a  motor  could  easily  be  arranged 
to  run  the  cream  separator,  churn,  butter  worker  and 
the  milk  tester.  Electricity  also  could  be  used  to  pas- 


POWER  ON  THE  FARM  163 

teurize  the  milk,  manufacture  ice  and  freeze  the  ice 
cream. 

Probably  the  housewife  would  next  consider  the 
laundry  equipment  the  most  important.  There  is  no 
other  source  of  energy  so  adapted  to  laundry  work  as  is 
electricity.  The  drudgery  of  the  wash-day  is  done 
away  with  when  one  is  not  compelled  to  turn  a  washing 
machine. 

Electricity  on  the  farm  not  only  lessens  the  drudg- 
ery for  poor  old  mother,  but  helps  every  individual  and 
department.  Think  of  the  number  of  fires  which  occur 
every  year,  because  some  lantern  happened  to  be  tipped 
over  in  the  barn.  Too  often  lanterns  are  hung  on  un- 
reliable nails  in  places  where,  if  a  horse  should  happen 
to  upset  one,  the  result  would  be  the  burning  of  the 
barn.  There  is  but  one  solution  of  this  problem;  that 
is  the  use  of  electricity,  and  motors  can  be  used  in  the 
barn  for  running  the  clipper,  feed  elevator  or  the  milk- 
ing machine.  Electricity  might  still  be  used  for  vari- 
ous other  important  duties  upon  the  farm,  such  as 
cleaning  grain,  in  the  shop  for  running  the  forge,  drill 
press,  emery  wheel,  grindstone,  turning  lathe,  trip  ham- 
mer, for  electric  welding,  and  for  vulcanizing  automo- 
bile tires. 

DARIUS    GREE1T   AND    PROFESSOR   LANGLEY. 

At  least  one  consideration  should  be  kept  in  view, 
namely,  that  a  source  of  power  which  is  so  universal 
and  so  inexhaustible  as  that  of  moving  air  currents, 
ought  not  to  bo  neglected.  The  farmer  now  regards 
the  air  only  as  a  carrier  of  moisture,  and  sometimes  of 
storm  and  tornado.  He  looks  upon  moving  air  with 
some  suspicion,  because  at  the  present  time  it  causes 
him  apparently  more  damage  than  good.  But  this  is 


164  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

because  the  air  has  not  been  conquered.  A  few  years 
ago  the  possibility  of  flying  through  the  air  was  looked 
upon  as  a  mere  vision.  "  Darius  Green  and  his  flying 
machine  "  were  held  up  for  the  amusement  of  the  rising 
generation  rather  than  its  instruction.  Even  as  late  as 
the  time  of  Professor  Langley,  the  great  scientist  who 
seriously  devoted  himself  to  the  problem  of  flying 
through  the  air,  scientific  and  practical  men  looked 
upon  it  as  a  mere  vagary  of  the  imagination.  Now 
the  air  has  been  conquered  in  so  far  as  navigation  is 
concerned.  While  the  dangers  are  still  imminent,  the 
thing  itself  has  been  accomplished. 

The  true  conquest  of  the  air,  however,  is  not  by  the 
balloon,  nor  the  aeroplane;  it  is  in  harnessing  the  air 
to  do  the  will  of  the  people.  When  the  mechanical 
difficulties  have  been  surmounted,  as  human  ingenuity 
can  readily  accomplish,  and  when  the  methods  of  man- 
ufacture have  been  so  perfected  as  to  bring  the  machines 
within  the  power  of  the  ordinary  well-to-do  farmer,  we 
may  expect  to  see  great  changes  and  great  benefits. 
Already  steam  and  gasoline  and  coal  oil  are  to  some  ex- 
tent supplementing  the  ox,  the  horse  and  the  mule  as 
a  means  of  farm  labor,  and  especially  of  farm  traction. 
When  we  view  the  victories  which  electricity  has  won 
as  a  moving  agent  in  cities  and  on  suburban  lines  of 
railway,  and  in  the  conquest  of  the  roads  by  the  motor 
car,  we  are  not  wise  to  place  any  limit  to  what  it  may 
accomplish  on  the  farm.  It  is  not  a  prophecy;  it  is 
only  a  statement  of  the  thing  which  is  certainly  about 
to  be,  to  look  only  a  few  years  ahead  and  see  the  electric 
turbine  a  part  of  every  farm  equipment  as  much  as  a 
mowing  machine  and  a  gang  plow  are  to-day. 

In  the  Electrical  Review  of  August  8,  1913,  London, 
is  an  account  of  an  electrical  turbine  system  estab- 


POWER  ON  THE  FARM  165 

lished  near  Adelaide,  Australia,  which  at  that  time  had 
been  in  continuous  operation  for  two  years  with  com- 
plete success.  The  wind  wheel  in  this  installation  is 
18  feet  in  diameter,  placed  on  a  tower  60  feet  high. 
The  generator  is  of  2l/2  kilowatt  capacity.  The  stor- 
age battery  consists  of  54  cells  of  324  Amp,  hour 
capacity  at  the  3  hour  rate.  The  total  number  of  lamps 
connected  with  this  installation  is  over  one  hundred  of 
varying  candle  power  and  the  actual  average  output 
amounts  to  about  3  kilowatts  per  night.  The  plant  is 
also  used  to  operate  three  flat  irons,  one  radiator,  one 
electric  motor  driving  a  cream  separator,  some  fans 
and  for  occasionally  charging  the  battery  of  an  electric 
motor  car.  The  expense  consisted  of  the  use  of  about 
30  gallons  of  distilled  water  every  twelve  months  for 
keeping  the  battery  full  and  the  adjustment  of  the 
grease  cups  once  per  month.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
there  was  no  sign  whatever  of  wear  or  tear  on  the  plant 
or  the  battery.  The  average  wind  velocity  in  the  vi- 
cinity for  the  year  was  8.8  miles  per  hour.  In  the 
operation  of  a  corn  planter  a  check  wire  is  used  which 
extends  entirely  across  the  field.  It  is  not  at  all  im- 
probable that  a  movable  wire  which  would  convey  elec- 
trical power  to  a  plow  or  a  mowing  machine,  could  be 
similarly  installed  so  that  the  current  from  the  electric 
turbine,  directly  or  through  the  large  storage  battery, 
might  well  be  conveyed  to  one  of  the  moving  agricul- 
tural implements  described. 

It  may  seem  somewhat  visionary  to  prophesy  the 
day  when  harvesting  and  plowing  will  be  accomplished 
by  the  force  of  the  wind ;  but  it  is  not  a  visionary  idea, 
it  is  entirely  within  the  realm  of  possibility.  The 
farmer  at  least  should  have  no  fear  of  the  increasing 
scarcity  of  wood  and  the  increasing  cost  of  coal.  He 


166  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

need  not  even  depend  upon  the  water  power,  which,  in 
the  dry  season  of  the  summer,  often  fails.  The  wind 
is  always  with  him,  and  is  an  inexhaustible  sourie  of 
the  energy  to  drive  the  machines  of  his  farm,  and  to 
heat  and  light  his  house. 

In  this  country  a  beginning  has  been  made.  One 
electric  turbine  has  been  in  successful  operation  on 
Long  Island  for  more  than  a  year.  The  problems  of 
the  control  of  the  mill  with  varying  velocities  of  the 
wind  have  been  solved.  A  suitable  storage  battery  has 
been  provided.  A  factory  at  Lewiston,  New  York,  has 
been  acquired  and  is  in  operation.  The  idea,  however, 
is  so  new  that  it  has  not  had  a  great  vogue.  A  few 
more  successful  plants  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
are  needed  as  object  lessons.  Electricity  bids  fair  to 
be  as  useful  and  convenient  to  the  farmer  as  it  has 
proved  to  be  to  the  man  in  town. 


XIX 

AGRICULTURAL  WASTES 

THE  Department  of  Agriculture  from  time  to  time 
publishes  bulletins  showing  agricultural  wastes 
and  losses.  Typical  among  these  are  the  bulletins  re- 
lating to  losses  produced  by  insects,  including  the  boll 
weevil,  and  to  animal  diseases  of  all  kinds.  Other 
great  agricultural  losses  are  produced  either  by  exces- 
sive or  deficient  rainfall  or  very  extreme  vicissitudes  of 
temperature.  It  appears  from  a  cursory  study  of  this 
class  of  literature  that  the  yields  of  agricultural  crops 
are  materially  lessened  by  these  losses  of  various  kinde. 
In  other  words,  the  common  crops  of  the  country  are 
not  so  wholly  dependent  as  one  might  suppose  upon  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  and  methods  of  culture,  but  are 
largely  determined  by  accidents,  diseases,  epidemics,  in- 
fections and  vicissitudes  of  the  weather. 

MAGNITUDE    OF    LOSSES. 

The  comparison  of  the  average  yield  of  the  principal 
crops  of  the  United  States,  from  year  to  year  and  by 
periods  of  five  or  ten  years,  indicates  that  the  magnitude 
of  these  losses  must  be  pretty  nearly  uniform.  To  be 
sure,  there  are  seasonal  variations  of  considerable  im- 
portance from  year  to  year,  which  decrease  or  increase 
production,  but  these  causes  are  chiefly  due  to  the 
weather  and  not  to  the  other  losses  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred. In  the  fruit  business,  especially,  the  unsea- 

167 


168  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

sonal  frosts,  precipitation  or  drought  make  wonder- 
ful differences  in  crop  production,  so  much  so  that  even 
under  the  best  conditions  of  culture  and  protection  the 
apple  and  the  peach  crops  can  only  be  counted  on  cer- 
tainly about  three  out  of  five  seasons  in  any  particular 
locality.  The  citrus  crops  are  more  uniform,  how- 
ever, in  their  production,  but  when  an  injury  comes  to 
them  by  reason  of  cold  weather  it  is  more  profound 
and  enduring  than  with  apples  and  peaches.  Witness 
the  freezes  in  Florida  some  twenty  years  ago  and  in 
California  during  the  winter  of  1912-1913 !  Actual 
damage  to  trees,  amounting  even  to  complete  destruc- 
tion, are  not  unusual  on  such  occasions,  whereas  the 
apple  tree  and  the  peach  tree  are  very  rarely  killed  by 
cold  weather.  The  worst  that  usually  happens  to  them 
is  the  destruction  of  a  single  crop,  which  usually  is  due 
to  an  inopportune  frost  after  budding  or  flowering. 
The  magnitude  of  these  losses  on  the  whole  is  very 
great,  so  great,  indeed,  that  we  are  led  to  believe  that 
if  agriculture  was  subject  to  no  vicissitudes  of  the  kind 
mentioned,  the  over  production  would  be  so  enormous 
as  to  render  the  practice  of  agriculture  practically  hope- 
less from  a  profit  returning  basis. 

EAVAGES    OF    HOG    CHOLERA. 

The  losses  in  live  stock  also  are  tremendously  large. 
According  to  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  590,  April  23,  1914,  more 
than  seven  million  hogs  were  lost  by  disease  during  the 
previous  year,  the  value  of  which  to  the  farmer  was 
$73,000,000.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  this  loss  was  due  to 
hog  cholera.  It  is  estimated  that  had  this  loss  not 
occurred,  800,000,000  additional  pounds  of  dressed 
meat  and  lard  would  have  been  available.  This  would 


AGRICULTURAL  WASTES  169 

have  given  to  every  family  in  the  United  States  about 
forty  additional  pounds  of  pork  products.  It  is  readily 
seen  that  the  injection  of  such  an  immensely  increased 
quantity  of  pork  products  on  the  market  must  of  neces- 
sity have  produced  a  very  great  decrease  in  price,  so 
that  the  farmer  probably  received  as  much  for  the  por- 
tion of  hogs  that  remained,  if  not  more,  than  he  would 
have  received  if  all  of  them  had  lived.  This  season 
(1914)  the  hog  cholera  made  its  first  appearance  for 
many  years  in  my  neighborhood.  To  date  I  have  lost 
thirty-six  shoats,  mostly  pure  bred  Tamworths,  out  of 
forty.  Many  of  my  neighbors  have  been  still  more 
unfortunate. 

In  spite  of  all  the  work  which  has  been  done  by  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  States  towards  se- 
curing immunity  from  hog  cholera,  it  is  stated  that  the 
loss  in  the  Northern  States  in  1913  was  greater  than 
in  previous  years,  while  in  the  South  it  was  somewhat 
less.  Evidently  no  success  of  any  notable  character 
has  attended  the  expensive  efforts  which  have  been 
made  to  secure  immunity  from  this  disease.  Never- 
theless the  appropriations  for  the  production  of  anti- 
hog-cholera  serum  are  made  most  abundantly  both  by 
the  federal  government  and  the  States,  a  far  larger 
sum  being  devoted  to  that  purpose  by  the  government, 
and  in  many  of  the  States,  than  is  directed  towards 
saving  the  lives  of  infants  throughout  the  country. 

The  same  bulletin  gives  the  information  that  the 
losses  of  cattle  by  disease  during  the  preceding  year 
amounted  to  1,737,000  head,  of  a  total  value  of  $68,- 
611,000.  This  includes  the  losses  from  exposure  as 
well  as  from  disease.  About  half  of  the  losses  of  cattle 
were  due  to  exposure  and  about  half  to  disease.  In 
regard  to  sheep,  also,  it  is  stated  that  the  total  losses 


170  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

during  the  year  were  2,224,000  head,  of  a  total  value 
of  $5,581,000.  Nearly  all  the  losses  of  sheep  are  due 
to  exposure.  The  total  loss  of  the  meat  producing  ani- 
mals due  to  exposure  and  disease  during  the  year  is 
estimated  to  be,  in  round  numbers,  $150,000,000.  The 
losses  of  horses  and  mules  also  show  approximately 
523,000  head,  valued  at  $59,100,000. 

While  these  terrible  losses  do  not  seem  to  diminish 
the  total  profits  of  agriculture  to  any  notable  degree, 
they  fall  with  crushing  force  upon  the  farmer  who  is 
the  victim.  They  also  place  a  heavy  burden  on  the 
consumer.  Even  if  the  farmer  secures  no  notable  gain 
in  the  money  value  of  a  bumper  crop,  he  becomes 
thereby  a  benefactor  to  the  country.  If  there  could  be 
some  workable  plan  evolved  to  cover  the  loss  to  the  in- 
dividual farmer,  the  wastes  mentioned  would  not 
menace  so  seriously  agricultural  prosperity.  If  the 
nation  and  state  could  lay  a  light  tax  on  those  articles 
most  subject  to  destruction  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
suffer  the  losses,  less  suffering  would  ensue.  If  A  loses 
100  hogs  by  cholera  and  thus  increases  the  value  of  the 
hogs  of  his  neighbors,  it  seems  to  me  they  should  share 
some  of  their  profits  with  him.  They  have  made  their 
extra  money  out  of  his  misfortunes.  If  A,  however,  by 
his  own  providence  could  avoid  the  loss,  which  would 
otherwise  be  due  to  his  own  negligence,  he  would  not 
deserve  compensation.  When  a  great  flood  devastates 
the  Mississippi  Delta,  driving  thousands  from  their 
homes  and  destroying  houses,  fences  and  stock,  or  when 
a  prosperous  city  like  Dayton  is  submerged  and  bat- 
tered, the  sympathy  of  the  world  is  aroused.  When 
drought  lays  waste  great  areas  in  India,  the  purses  of 
the  world  are  open.  When  an  earthquake  destroys  a 
city,  aid  is  offered  on  every  side.  When  fire  consumes 


AGRICULTURAL  WASTES  171 

a  town,  the  neighboring  cities  come  to  the  rescue.  A 
great  humanitarian  association  of  a  purely  voluntary- 
character,  the  Red  Cross,  is  always  equipped  to  succor 
suffering  humanity,  dazed  by  fire  or  flood  or  decimated 
by  the  Eed  Dragon  of  war.  The  Congress  of  the 
United  States  has  voted  millions  to  relieve  the  victims 
of  disasters  of  fire,  flood  and  seismic  spasms.  I  wonder 
what  James  Buchanan,  vetoer  of  agricultural  extension 
aid,  would  say  to  these  national  gifts  and  philanthro- 
pies ?  In  the  face  of  great  disaster  and  its  consequent 
suffering,  we  do  not  wait  to  consult  the  constitution.  I 
do  not  see  why  the  State  or  the  nation,  in  lieu  of  these 
spasmodic  gifts  to  the  victims  of  unavoidable  catas- 
trophes, might  not  institute  some  form  of  insurance 
which  would  provide  automatic  and  speedy  relief.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  farmer,  as  well  as  every  other  bene- 
ficiary of  an  insurance  of  any  kind,  must  be  held  strictly 
accountable  for  his  own  negligence  and  indifference. 
Any  system  of  public  or  private  compensation  that 
would  repress  industry,  dim  foresight,  or  paralyze  pre- 
caution, would  work  harm  and  not  good. 

These  vicissitudes  of  fortune  which  I  have  enumer- 
ated, however,  do  greater  damage  by  the  little  but  per- 
sistent wastes  which  they  produce,  than  do  the  great 
cataclysms  that  overwhelm  a  restricted  area  and  arouse 
a  world-wide  benevolence. 

The  ravages  of  insects,  the  unequal  distribution  of 
rain,  premature  or  delayed  frosts,  the  peach  borer,  local 
accidents  and  diseases,  the  black  rust  and  the  blight,  are 
the  principal  wastes  from  which  the  farmer  suffers. 
These  are  not  considered  of  a  character  to  command 
attention,  excite  sympathy,  demand  remedial  legisla- 
tion, or  call  for  help  from  the  Red  Cross. 

The  time  will  never  come  when  the  fields  will  yield 


172          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

their  maximum  output,  untouched  by  storm  or  stress. 
It  is  the  part  of  wisdom,  therefore,  to  recognize  these 
misfortunes  and  to  minimize  their  results  by  some  sys- 
tem of  equal  distribution  of  their  burdens. 

Some  system  of  insurance  against  hog  cholera,  tuber- 
culosis, black  leg,  lumpy  jaw,  glanders,  foot  and  mouth 
disease,  and  similar  epidemic  and  contagious  diseases 
should  be  devised.  As  these  diseases,  because  of  the 
danger  of  interstate  infection,  are  national  in  character, 
the  insurance  should  be  of  the  same  kind.  The  burden 
on  the  individual  farmer  is  too  great.  An  epidemic 
among  his  farm  animals  often  means  financial  ruin. 
No  system  of  corporate  insurance  would  be  different 
from  that  already  in  vogue.  There  are  55,000,000 
cattle  in  the  United  States.  A  national  tax  of  one  dol- 
lar per  head  would  nearly  pay  for  all  losses.  There 
are  60,000,000  hogs  in  the  United  States.  A  tax  of 
one  dollar  would  nearly  compensate  the  owners  for  the 
destruction  by  hog  cholera. 


XX 

THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 


ordinary,  intelligent  farmer  may  be  very  suc- 
•••  cessful,  understand  thoroughly  the  principles  of 
agriculture  and  the  methods  of  applying  them,  without 
being  a  specialist  in  geology  or  chemistry.  At  the  same 
time  he  is  interested  in  a  general  way  in  the  genesis 
of  the  soil,  how  it  has  arisen,  what  is  its  constitution, 
and  other  scientific  facts  connected  with  it.  An  at- 
tempt to  present  some  of  the  principal  facts  and  theories 
in  connection  with  soil  evolution,  without  going  into  the 
refinement  of  the  sciences  or  details  and  illustrations, 
may  be  pardoned.  Such  an  attempt  I  made  in  an  ad- 
dress before  the  National  Geographic  Society,  in  the 
winter  of  1911  and  1912-.  With  the  permission  of  the 
editors  of  the  National  Geographic  Magazine,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  the  address  is  given  below  : 

THE  GENESIS    OF   THE   EARTH. 

"  One  of  the  oft-repeated  theories  concerning  the  ori- 
gin of  our  earth  is  that  at  a  remote  period  all  the  matter 
of  which  the  earth  consists  at  present  was  a  part  of 
the  incandescent  gas  which  filled  the  space  now  assigned 
to  our  solar  system.  As  the  cooling  of  this  mass  of 
gas  progressed  vortex  rings  were  formed  of  gaseous 
matter.  These  on  further  cooling  broke  and  rolled  to- 
gether, forming  the  sun,  the  planets,  and  the  satellites 

of  our  present  system.     The  next  condition  of  the  in- 

173 


174  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

candescent  gas  was  incandescent  liquid,  which  came  in 
due  season  as  time  rolled  by.  Finally,  by  the  further 
process  of  cooling,  a  crust  was  formed  upon  the  surface 
of  these  liquids  which  was  the  beginning  of  the  solid 
surface  of  the  earth.  This  crust  would  naturally  be 
of  the  same  composition  as  the  liquid  matter  from 
which  it  was  formed  —  practically  homogeneous  in 
character  and  consisting  of  the  mineral  matters  only 
which  could  exist  in  a  solid  state  at  that  temperature. 
"  Whether  the  above  theory  relating  to  the  life  history 
of  the  planet  up  to  the  formation  of  igneous  rock  is 
true  or  not  is  of  little  consequence  in  so  far  as  the 
genesis  of  the  soil  is  concerned.  It  is  certain  that 
the  mineral  parts  of  soil  are  derived  from  rocks.  We 
may  not  know  how  these  rocks  originated. 

THE   EVOLUTION    OF    THE    SOIL. 

"  In  speaking  of  the  soils  of  the  United  States,  I 
would  like  to  trace  briefly  their  evolution  from  this 
primeval  crust,  which  was  the  first  ice  formed  on  this 
globe.  What  have  been  some  of  the  more  active  forces 
which  have  broken  up  this  congealed  mineral  matter  and 
brought  it  into  the  present  condition  in  which  we  see 
the  surface  of  our  globe  ?  First  of  all  the  action  of 
water,  which  is  and  has  been  one  of  the  chief  disinte- 
grating agents  upon  the  earth's  surface.  At  the  time 
the  first  crust  was  formed  over  the  surface  of  the  earth 
all  the  water  which  now  exists  must  evidently  have 
been  above  the  earth's  surface  in  the  form  of  steam. 
As  the  cooling  slowly  progressed  this  steam  tended  to 
condense  in  the  form  of  clouds  and  finally  water. 
Thus  the  original  rain  falling  upon  the  hot  surface  of 
the  earth  was  at  once  converted  again  into  steam,  but 
not  until  it  had  started  a  certain  solvent  action.  Water 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      175 

has  been  termed  the  universal  solvent,  and  it  is  not 
difficult  to  see  how  active  it  must  have  been  at  the  time 
of  which  I  speak.  The  sudden  cooling  of  the  surface 
at  the  spot  where  a  drop  of  water  struck  would  tend 
to  crack  it,  the  hot  water  would  dissolve  quickly  any 
of  the  substances  soluble  therein,  and  this  continual 
bombardment  of  boiling  water  must  have  had  a  tre- 
mendous effect  in  disintegrating  the  original  crust 
formed  over  the  earth's  surface.  As  the  earth  contin- 
ued to  cool  and  diminish  in  size,  the  original  surface 
wrinkled  and  formed  hills  and  valleys.  The  continual 
descent  of  water  would  finally  permit  some  of  it  to 
remain  in  the  liquid  state  upon  the  earth's  surface,  and 
this  coursing  down  the  valleys  continued  the  disinte- 
gration, both  by  solution  and  attrition.  The  original 
mineral  matters  were  thus  brought  into  a  form  of  solu- 
tion or  suspension,  and,  seeking  their  natural  chemical 
affinities,  began  to  form  from  the  first  igneous  rocks, 
the  first  sedimentary  rocks.  These  are  the  rocks  which 
we  now  see  in  strata,  underlying  the  greater  part  of  the 
earth's  surface.  All  these  stratified  rocks  must  have 
been  laid  down  under  the  water,  and  thus  we  are  con- 
vinced that  the  surface  of  the  earth  during  the  long 
period  of" the  formation  of  the  soil  must  have  been  alter- 
nately above  and  below  the  surface  of  the  water  collected 
upon  the  globe. 

"  When  organic  life  came  upon  the  earth's  surface  a 
new  disintegrating  force  was  introduced.  Organic  life, 
even  in  its  smallest  forms,  such  as  bacteria,  acts  with 
vigor  in  decomposing  rocks.  The  larger  forms,  which 
produce  rootlets,  help  this  disintegrating  process  along. 
These  toots  find  their  way  into  crevices  of  the  rocks, 
and  tend  to  split  them  open  and  to  admit  water  below 
their  surface.  Certain  bacteria  also  tend  to  oxidize 


176  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

the  nitrogen  of  the  air  and  form  nitric  acid,  known 
under  the  common  name  of  aqua  fortis,  which  has  a 
vigorous  solvent  action  on  many  kinds  of  rock.  Car- 
bonic acid  arising  from  the  burning  organic  matter  and 
from  the  lungs  of  animals  and  preexisting  as  a  mineral 
substance  also  played  an  important  part  in  rock  decay. 
"  In  the  process  of  further  cooling,  ice  was  formed, 
and  this  also  tended  to  have  a  disintegrating  influence. 
Water  in  passing  into  ice  increases  in  volume,  and  this 
tends  to  break  and  disintegrate  many  bodies.  Rock 
saturated  with  water  thus  tends  to  break  up  when  the 
water  becomes  ice.  During  the  period  of  the  ice  age 
when  large  glaciers  moved  over  much  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face, the  crushing  and  grinding  effects  of  the  ice  had 
much  to  do  with  disintegrating  the  rock.  The  vast 
areas  of  glacial  drift  which  form  the  soil  of  many  of  our 
Central  Western  States  are  evidences  of  the  gigantic 
scale  on  which  these  ice  mills  of  the  gods  slowly  ground 
the  stones  of  the  earth  into  soil.  When  the  soil  is 
formed  by  the  decay  of  rocks  without  the  transporting 
action  of  water  or  ice  being  active,  the  soils  are  said 
to  be  formed  in  situ.  When  the  products  of  soil  dis- 
integration are  carried  by  water  and  deposited  along 
the  banks  of  the  streams  or  at  their  mouths,  the  soil  is 
called  alluvial.  When  products  of  rock  disintegration 
are  carried  by  moving  ice  and  deposited  therefrom,  they 
are  called  glacial  drift.  When  they  are  carried  by 
wind,  as  is  often  the  case,  they  are  called  seolian  soils. 
The  above  are  some  of  the  varieties  of  soils  as  deter- 
mined by  their  method  of  formation.  Soils  are  also 
classified  in  regard  to  their  chemical  characters;  as, 
for  instance,  when  formed  from  the  decay  of  carbonate 
of  lime,  they  are  called  limestone  soils.  When  arising 
from  the  disintegration  of  granite,  they  are  called 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      177 

granitic  soils.  When  formed  chiefly  from  particles  of 
silex,  they  are  called  sandy  soils.  When  consisting 
mostly  of  silicate  of  alumina,  they  are  called  clay  soils, 
and  so  on." 

In  addition  to  the  above  description  there  are  several 
points  relating  to  the  classification  and  nature  of  soils 
which  will  prove  of  value  and  interest  to  the  general 
reader.  These  additional  data  are  compiled  chiefly 
from  my  work  on  Agricultural  Chemistry.1 

"  The  weathering  of  rocks  and  their  gradual  disinte- 
gration into  the  mineral  bases  of  the  soil  is  by  many 
considered  to  be  largely  influenced  by  the  freezing  and 
thawing  which  are  incidental  to  the  change  of  seasons. 
This  is  a  plausible  theory.  The  effect  of  freezing  is 
produced,  as  has  already  been  intimated,  by  the  expan- 
sion which  takes  place  when  water  reaches  a  tempera* 
ture  only  a  few  degrees  above  the  freezing  point.  As 
the  water  is  cooled  to  this  point  there  is  a  gradual  con- 
traction of  volume.  At  4°  centigrade,  which  is  nearly 
40°  Fahrenheit,  this  contraction  in  the  volume  of 
water,  as  it  is  further  proved,  stops,  and  an  expansion 
in  volume  takes  place  at  lower  temperatures.  When 
the  water  is  crystallized  into  ice  the  maximum  of  ex- 
pansion is  secured.  This  crystallization,  which  seem- 
ingly is  produced  by  forces  of  a  very  minute  character, 
nevertheless  goes  on  with  almost  irresistible  force. 
The  strongest  vessels  are  easily  rent  asunder  by  this 
expansive  force  of  freezing  water.  The  well-known 
phenomenon  of  bursting  water  pipes  in  cold  weather  is 
an  illustration  of  this  herculean  force.  Apparently 
man  can  construct  no  container  strong  enough  to  re- 
sist it. 

i "  Principles  and  Practice  of  Agricultural  Analysis,"  Second 
Edition,  Volume  I.  Chemical  Publishing  Co.,  Easton,  Pa. 


178  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

BOCKS    DIFFER   IN    SPEED   OF   WEATHERING. 

"  It  is  also  a  matter  of  observation  that  certain  kinds 
of  rocks  are  much  more  sensitive  to  weathering  than 
others.  In  the  selection  of  permanent  building  stones 
the  property  of  rocks  to  withstand  weathering  is  ex- 
tremely important.  The  breaking  down  of  building 
stones  is  usually  ascribed  to  the  freezing  and  thawing 
process.  Those  stones  which  permit  the  freest  entry 
of  moisture,  thus  storing  up  water  which,  when  frozen, 
expands,  are  as  a  rule  those  that  most  rapidly  give  way. 
The  action  of  freezing  and  thawing,  however,  has  been 
perhaps  somewhat  over-rated.  In  warm  or  even  tropi- 
cal climates,  where  these  agents  are  never  active  in  the 
disintegration  of  rocks,  some  of  the  deepest  and  best 
weathered  soils  are  produced.  In  point  of  fact,  a  long 
hard  winter,  where  there  is  no  thawing  at  all,  tends 
to  preserve  the  rocks  from  decay  rather  than  to  favor  it. 

"  There  are  many  facts  which  have  been  observed  by 
geologists  confirming  the  idea  that  a  warm  climatd, 
especially  if  it  be  a  wet  one,  is  more  favorable  to  rock 
decay  than  a  cold  climate.  The  progress  of  decay, 
therefore,  is  distinctly  affected  by  latitude.  Extensive 
investigations  carried  on  along  the  Atlantic  side  of  the 
country  show  wide  differences  in  the  rate  of  decay  in 
the  same  kind  of  rocks  in  different  latitudes.  In  gen- 
eral, the  progress  of  decay  is  more  marked  toward  the 
south.  The  same  fact  is  observed  in  the  great  interior 
valleys  of  the  country;  at  least,  everywhere  except  in 
the  arid  and  semi-arid  regions.  Wherever  there  is  a 
deficiency  of  water  the  processes  of  decay  have  been 
arrested.  Where  the  rock  strata  have  been  displaced 
from  a  horizontal  position  the  progress  of  decay  has 
been  more  rapid.  This  is  easily  understood.  The 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES       179 

percolation  of  water  is  more  easy  as  the  displacement 
approaches  a  vertical  position. 

"  A  most  remarkable  example  of  this  is  seen  in  the 
rocks  of  North  Carolina,  A  kind  of  rock  known  as 
trap  is  found  in  layers  called  dikes  in  the  Newark 
system  of  rocks  in  that  State.  These  dikes  have  been 
so  completely  displaced  from  the  horizontal  position 
they  at  first  occupied  as  to  have  an  almost  vertical  dip. 
The  edges  thus  exposed  vary  from  a  few  feet  to  nearly 
one  hundred  feet  in  thickness.  The  trap  rock  in  those 
localities  is  composed  almost  exclusively  of  the  mineral 
dolerite,  which  is  so  hard  and  elastic  in  a  fresh  state 
as  to  ring  like  a  piece  of  metal  when  struck  with  a 
hammer.  In  building  a  railroad  through  this  region 
these  dikes  were  in  some  places  uncovered  to  a  depth 
of  forty  feet  and  more.  At  this  depth  they  were  found 
completely  decomposed  and  with  no  indications  of  hav- 
ing reached  the  lower  limit  of  disintegration.  The 
original  hard  bluish  dolerite  has  been  transformed  into 
a  yellowish  clay-like  mass  that  can  be  molded  in  the 
fingers  and  cut  like  putty.  Similar  geological  forma- 
tions in  New  Jersey  and  further  north  do  not  exhibit 
anything  like  so  great  a  degree  of  decomposition,  thus 
illustrating  in  a  marked  degree  the  fact  that  freezing 
weather  for  a  part  of  the  year  is  a  protection  against 
rock  decay.  The  ice  of  winter  at  least  protects  the 
rocks  from  surface  infiltration,  although  it  cannot  stop 
the  subterranean  solution  which  must  go  on  continu- 
ously. 

"  Other  things  being  equal,  therefore,  it  appears  that 
as  the  region  of  winter  frost  is  passed  the  decay  of  the 
rocks  has  been  more  rapid,  because  water,  the  chief 
disintegrating  force,  acts  more  constantly.  Decay  of 
rocks  at  the  poles  must  be  very  slow. 


180  THE  LUKE  OF  THE  LAND 

THE   ROLE   OF   WATER   IN    SOIL,   MAKING. 

"  Attention  has  also  been  called  to  the  solvent  action 
of  water.  It  is  well  to  consider  in  this  respect  the  fact 
that  pure  water  is  not,  as  a  rule,  so  good  a  solvent  as 
impure.  Water  especially  which  contains  carbon  di- 
oxid  in  solution,  or  traces  of  organic  acids,  or  traces  of 
phosphoric  and  nitric  acids,  acts  much  more  vigorously 
on  many  rock  materials  than  pure  water  could  possibly 
do.  The  water  of  springs  and  wells  is  not  pure.  It 
contains  in  solution  mineral  matters  and  often  a  trace 
of  organic  matter.  The  organic  matter  comes  from 
contact  with  vegetable  matter  and  other  organic  ma- 
terials near  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  mineral 
matter  is  derived  from  the  solvent  action  of  the  water 
and  its  contents  on  the  soil  and  rocks. 

"  The  expression  '  hard '  or  '  soft '  applied  to  water 
indicates  that  it  has  much  or  little  carbonate  of  lime 
and  magnesia  or  sulfates  of  the  same  bases  in  solution. 
Water  containing  much  carbonate  of  lime  (or  lime  and 
magnesia)  in  solution  is  usually  more  or  less  charged 
with  carbon  dioxid.  When  boiled  this  gas  is  driven 
off  and  the  carbonates  precipitated.  This  kind  of  hard- 
ness is  called  temporary.  When  surface  and  spring 
waters  are  collected  into  streams  and  rivers  they  still 
contain  in  solution  the  greater  part  of  the  mineral  mat- 
ters which  they  at  first  carried. 

"  When  waters  have  more  than  600  parts  of  mineral 
matter  per  million  they  are  not  deemed  suitable  for 
drinking  waters.  Mineral  waters,  so  called,  are  those 
which  carry  large  quantities  of  mineral  matter,  or 
which  contain  certain  comparatively  rare  mineral  sub- 
stances which  are  valued  for  their  medicinal  effects. 

"  The  analysis  of  spring,  well,  or  river  waters  will 


Photo  by  U.  S.  Dept 


SPRAYING    SUGAR    BEETS 


Photo  by  r.  s.  i)«-i»t.  of  ifrtculture 

WSTIUIM  TINU    POISON    I5AIT    Kolt    <TT    WOKMS 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      181 

always  give  some  indication  of  the  character  of  the 
rocks  and  soils  over  or  through  which  they  have  passed. 
The  vast  quantities  of  mineral  matters  carried  into 
oceans  and  seas  are  gradually  deposited  as  the  water  is 
evaporated.  If,  however,  these  matters  be  very  solu- 
ble, such  as  common  salt,  sulfate  of  magnesia,  etc.,  they 
are  found  in  concentrated  solutions  as  is  seen  in  sea 
waters.  In  small  bodies  of  waters,  such  as  inland  seas, 
which  have  no  outlet,  this  concentration  may  proceed 
to  a  much  greater  extent  than  in  the  ocean.  As  an  in- 
stance of  this,  it  may  be  noted  that  the  waters  of  the 
Dead  Sea  and  Great  Salt  Lake  are  impregnated  to  a 
far  greater  degree  with  soluble  salts  than  the  water  of 
the  ocean.  The  solvent  action  of  water  on  rocks  is 
greatly  increased  by  the  traces  of  organic  (or  carbonic) 
acids  which  it  may  contain.  When  surface  water 
comes  in  contact  with  vegetable  matter  it  may  become 
partially  charged  with  the  organic  acids  which  the 
growing  vegetables  may  contain  or  decaying  vegetable 
matter  produce.  Such  acids  coming  in  contact  with 
limestone  under  pressure  will  set  free  carbon  dioxid. 
Water  charged  with  carbon  dioxid  acts  vigorously  as 
a  solvent  on  limestone  and  some  other  mineral  aggre- 
gates. If  such  waters  penetrate  deeply  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  their  activity  as  solvents  may  be 
greatly  increased  by  the  higher  temperature  to  which 
they  are  subjected.  Hence,  all  these  forces  combine  to 
disintegrate  the  rocks,  and  through  such  agencies  vast 
deposits  of  original  and  secondary  rocks  have  been  com- 
pletely decomposed.  The  decay  of  nitrogenous  matters 
gives  rise  to  nitric  acid  which  also  adds  to  the  disinte- 
grating power  of  percolating  waters.  The  gradual 
passing  of  the  firm  rock  into  an  arable  soil  is  beauti- 
fully shown  in  the  illustration. 


182  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

SANDY    AND    CLAY    SOILS. 

z<  Hilgard  has  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  soils 
formed  with  a  small  supply  of  water  as  in  the  arid 
regions  have  a  distinctive  sandy  character,  while  those 
formed  under  the  influence  of  an  abundant  supply  of 
water  contain  more  clay.  In  the  decay  of  rocks,  there- 
fore, a  dry  climate  has  a  distinctly  retarding  effect  on 
the  kaolinization  of  feldspathic  rocks.  The  soils 
formed  in  situ  on  the  Atlantic  border  are  therefore 
chiefly  clay  loams,  while  on  the  Pacific  border  they 
contain  a  larger  quantity  of  sand. 

"  The  preliminary  condition  to  the  growth  of  vegeta- 
tion is  the  formation  of  soil,  but  once  started,  vegeta- 
tion aids  greatly  in  the  decomposition  of  rocks.  Some 
forms  of  vegetation,  as  the  lichens,  have  apparently 
the  faculty  of  growing  on  the  bare  surface  of  rocks, 
but  the  higher  orders  of  plants  require  at  least  a  little 
soil.  Vegetation  acts  as  a  rock  disintegrant  by  shading 
the  surface  and  thus  rendering  the  action  of  water 
more  effective,  by  mechanically  separating  the  rock 
particles  by  means  of  its  penetrating  roots  and  by  the 
positive  action  of  the  root  juices.  The  rootlets  of 
plants  in  contact  with  limestone  or  marble  dissolve 
large  portions  of  these  substances,  and  while  their  ac- 
tion on  more  refractory  rocks  is  slower,  it  must  be  of 
considerable  importance.  It  is  evident  that  the  sol- 
vent action  of  the  acids  of  living  plants  is  confined 
almost  exclusively  to  the  particles  of  rocks  proximate 
to  points  of  exudation.  The  organic  matter  intro- 
duced into  the  soil  by  vegetation  also  promotes  decay 
still  further,  both  directly  and  by  the  formation  of 
acids  of  the  humic  series.  This  matter  also  furnishes 
a  considerable  portion  of  carbon  dioxid  which  is 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      183 
carried  by  the  water  and  assists  in  its  solvent  action. 

THE   BOLE   OF   EABTH    WORMS. 

"  Of  animal  organisms  those  most  active  in  the  forma- 
tion of  soil  are  earth-worms.  The  work  of  earth-worms 
in  soil  forming  has  been  exhaustively  studied  by  Dar- 
win. The  worms  not  only  modify  the  soil  by  bringing 
to  the  surface  portions  of  the  subsoil,  but  also  influence 
its  physical  state  by  making  it  more  porous  and  pul- 
verulent According  to  Darwin,  the  intestinal  content 
of  worms  has  an  acid  reaction,  and  this  has  an  effect 
on  those  portions  of  the  soil  passing  through  their  ali- 
mentary canal.  The  acids,  which  are  formed  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  digestive  canal,  are  neutralized  by 
the  carbonate  of  lime  secreted  by  the  calciferous  glands 
of  the  worms,  thus  neutralizing  the  free  acid  and  chang- 
ing the  reaction  to  alkaline  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
canal. 

"  The  worms  further  modify  the  composition  of  the 
soil  by  drawing  leaves  and  other  organic  matter  into 
their  holes,  and  leaving  therein  a  portion  of  such  mat- 
ter which  is  gradually  converted  into  humus.  Darwin 
estimates  that  about  eleven  tons  of  organic  matter  per 
acre  are  annually  added  to  the  soil  in  regions  where 
worms  abound.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  am- 
monia in  the  soil  at  any  given  time  may  also  be  due  to 
the  action  of  worms,  as  much  as  0.18  per  cent,  of  this 
substance  having  been  found  in  their  excrement.  It  is 
probable  that  nearly  the  whole  of  the  vegetable  matter  in 
the  soil  passes  sooner  or  later  through  the  alimentary 
canals  of  these  ceaseless  soil  builders,  and  is  converted 
into  the  form  of  humus.  Finally  the  bodies  of  the 
worms  serve  to  increase  the  quantity  of  the  organic  mat- 
ter in  the  soil. 


184  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

THE    ROLE    OF    BACTERIA. 

"  The  intimate  relations  which  have  been  found  to 
subsist  between  certain  minute  organisms  and  the  chem- 
ical reactions  which  take  place  in  the  soil  is  a  sufficient 
excuse  for  noting  the  effect  of  other  similar  organisms 
in  the  formation  of  soils. 

"  In  addition  to  the  usual  forces  active  in  decompos- 
ing rocks  Miintz  has  described  the  effects  of  a  nitrifying 
bacillus  contributing  to  the  same  purpose. 

"  According  to  him  the  bare  rock  usually  furnishes  a 
purely  mineral  environment  where  organisms  cannot  be 
developed  unless  they  are  able  to  draw  their  nourish- 
ment directly  from  the  air.  Some  nitrifying  organ- 
isms belong  to  this  class.  It  has  been  shown  that  these 
bodies  can  be  developed  by  absorbing  from  the  ambient 
atmosphere  carbonate  of  ammonia  and  vapors  of  alco- 
hol, the  presence  of  which  has  been  observed  in  the  air. 
According  to  the  observations  of  Winogradsky,  they 
assimilate  even  the  carbon  of  the  carbon  dioxid  just  as 
the  parts  of  plants  which  contain  chlorophyl.  Thus 
even  on  the  denuded  rocks  of  high  mountains  the  con- 
ditions for  the  development  of  all  these  inferior  organ- 
isms exist.  In  examining  the  particles  produced  by 
attrition,  it  is  easily  established  that  they  are  uniformly 
covered  by  a  layer  of  organic  matter  evidently  formed 
by  microscopic  vegetation.  Thus  we  see,  in  the  very 
first  products  of  attrition,  appearing  upon  the  rocky 
particles  the  characteristic  element  of  vegetable  soil, 
viz.,  humus,  the  proportion  of  which  increases  rapidly 
with  the  products  of  disaggregation  collected  at  the  foot 
of  declivities  until  finally  they  become  covered  with 
chlorophyliferous  plants. 

"  In  a  similar  manner  the  presence  of  nitrifying  or- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      185 

ganisms  has  been  noted  upon  rocky  particles  from  high 
altitudes  received  in  sterilized  tubes,  and  where  these 
are  sown  in  an. appropriate  environment  they  soon  pro- 
duce colonies.  The  naked  rocks  of  the  Alps,  the 
Pyrenees,  the  Auvergnes  and  the  Vosges,  comprise  min- 
eralogical  types  of  the  most  varied  nature,  viz.,  granite, 
porphyry,  gneiss,  mica-schist,  volcanic  rocks  and  lime- 
stones and  all  these  have  shown  themselves  to  be 
covered  with  the  nitrifying  ferment.  It  is  known  that 
below  a  certain  temperature  these  organisms  are  not 
active;  their  action  upon  the  rock  is,  therefore,  limited 
to  the  summer  period.  During  the  cold  season  their 
life  is  suspended,  but  they  do  not  perish,  inasmuch  as 
they  have  been  found  living  and  ready  to  resume  all 
their  activity  after  an  indefinite  sleep  on  the  ice  of  the 
glaciers  where  the  temperature  is  never  elevated  above 
zero. 

"  The  nitrifying  ferment  is  exercised  on  a  much 
larger  scale  in  the  normal  conditions  of  the  lower  levels 
where  the  rock  is  covered  with  earth.  This  activity  is 
not  limited  to  the  mass  of  rock,  but  is  continued  upon  the 
fragments  of  the  most  diverse  size  scattered  through 
the  soil  and  it  helps  to  gradually  reduce  them  to  a 
state  of  fine  particles.  The  action  of  these  fer- 
ments is  therefore  a  phenomenon  of  the  widest  exten- 
sion. 

"  The  action  of  these  microorganisms,  according  to 
Miintz,  is  not  confined  to  the  surface,  but  extends  to 
the  most  interior  particles  of  the  rocky  mass.  Where, 
however,  there  is  nothing  of  a  nitrogenous  nature  to 
nitrify  such  an  organism  must  live  in  a  state  of  sus- 
pended animation  unless  it  is  able  to  act  on  the  nitrogen 
of  the  air. 

"  When  the  extreme  minuteness  of  these  phenomena 


186          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

is  considered  there  may  be  a  tendency  to  despise  their 
importance,  but  their  continuity  and  their  generality 
in  the  opinion  of  Miintz  place  them  among  the  geo- 
logical causes  to  which  the  crust  of  the  earth  owes  a 
part  of  its  actual  physiognomy  and  which  particularly 
have  contributed  to  the  formation  of  the  deposits  of  the 
comminuted  elements  constituting  arable  soil. 

"  Brauner  calls  attention  to  the  danger  of  overesti- 
mating the  activity  of  nitrifying  organisms  in  effecting 
the  decay  of  rocks  due  to  their  inability  to  live  at  great 
depths.  As  is  well  known  they  diminish  in  abundance 
as  the  depth  below  the  surface  increases  and  disappear, 
or  at  least  are  inactive,  at  depths  of  from  three  to  six 
feet.  Brauner  says  that  in  ^hese  cases  the  statements 
of  specialists  are  the  only  safe  reliance  and  the  finding 
of  bacteria  in  rocks  by  any  one  not  a  specialist  is  to  be 
regarded  with  suspicion.  Only  those  who  have  worked 
in  bacteriology  can  fully  appreciate  the  difficulties  to 
be  enumerated  and  the  precautions  to  be  taken  in  deal- 
ing with  those  organisms  in  order  to  prevent  being  mis- 
led by  faulty  manipulation. 

THE    BOLE    OP  OXYGEN. 

"  The  air  itself  takes  an  active  part  in  rock  decay. 
Wherever  rocks  are  exposed  to  decay,  there  air  is  found 
or,  at  least,  the  active  principle  of  air,  viz.,  oxygen. 
The  air  as  a  gas  not  only  penetrates  to  a  great  depth 
in  the  earth,  but  is  also  carried  to  much  greater  depths 
by  water  which  always  holds  a  greater  or  less  quantity 
of  air  in  solution.  The  oxygen  of  the  air  is  thus 
brought  into  intimate  contact  with  the  disintegrating 
materials  and  is  present  in  a  condition  to  assist  wher- 
ever possible  in  the  decomposing  processes. 

"  The  oxygen  acts  vigorously  on  the  lower  oxids  of 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      187 

iron,  converting  them  into  peroxids,  and  thus  tends  to 
produce  decay. 

"  There  are  other  constituents  of  rocks  which  oxygen 
attacks  and  thus  helps  to  their  final  breaking  up.  It  is 
true  that,  as  a  rule,  the  constituents  of  rocks  are  already 
oxidized  to  nearly  as  high  a  degree  as  possible,  and  on 
these  constituents  of  course  the  air  would  have  no  ef- 
fect But  on  others,  especially  when  helped  by  water 
with  the  other  substances  it  carries  in  solution,  the  air 
may  greatly  aid  in  the  work  of  destruction. 

"  In  a  general  view,  the  action  of  the  air  in  soil  forma- 
tion may  be  regarded  as  of  secondary  importance,  and 
to  depend  chiefly  on  the  oxidation  of  the  lower  to  the 
higher  basic  forms.  These  processes,  while  they  seem 
of  little  value,  have,  nevertheless,  been  of  considerable 
importance  in  the  production  of  that  residue  of  rock 
disintegration  which  constitutes  the  soil. 

THE    SOIL    MORE    THAN    MINERAL. 

"  But  for  agricultural  purposes  the  soil  consists  of 
more  than  decayed  mineral  matter.  By  the  decay  of 
organic  matter  there  is  introduced  into  the  soil  the  ele- 
ment, humus,  which  is  one  of  its  principal  character- 
istics from  an  agricultural  point  of  view.  The  soil  is 
filled  with  millions  of  organisms  of  a  lower  form,  with- 
out whose  activity  the  growing  of  crops  would  be  im- 
possible. The  soil,  therefore,  not  only  contains  the 
mineral  matters  which  are  necessary  to  sustain  the  life 
of  plants,  but  also  those  organic  elements  without  which 
these  mineral  matters  would  not  be  available  for  plant 
growth.  The  three  principal  mineral  foods  of  plants 
are  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and  nitrogen.  Lime,  mag- 
nesia, iron,  and  many  other  onineral  substances  are  also 
found  in  plants,  but  these  are  not  absolutely  essential 


188          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

to  plant  growth.  If,  however,  either  nitrogen,  potash, 
or  phosphoric  acid  be  entirely  removed  from  the  en- 
vironment, it  is  impossible  to  produce  a  matured  plant. 
The  great  bulk  of  the  material  of  which  plants  are 
composed  is  not  drawn,  however,  from  the  soil,  but  is 
taken  from  the  air  and  water.  Great  as  have  been  the 
chemical  achievements  of  man,  no  chemist  has  yet 
arisen  whose  skill  can  be  compared  to  that  of  the  plant 
itself.  Any  chemist  who  to-day,  with  all  the  appliances 
which  science  has  placed  at  his  disposal,  could  make 
by  synthesis  the  various  organic  compounds  of  which 
plants  are  principally  composed  would  rival  the  fame 
of  Berzelius,  Liebig,  Hoffman,  Berthelot,  Gibbs,  or 
Curie.  Thus  the  soil  must  be  regarded  as  that  part  of 
plant  life  which  furnishes  the  physical  support  for  the 
growing  plant,  supplies  it  with  the  mineral  foods  essen- 
tial to  its  growth  and  maturity,  and  favors  best  those 
conditions  which  enable  the  plant  cell  to  elaborate  the 
organic  matters  of  which  the  matured  plant  is  chiefly 
composed. 

CLASSIFICATION-    OP    SOILS. 

"While  there  is  an  infinite  variety  of  detail  in  the 
character  of  the  soils  of  the  United  States  as  regards 
physical  qualities  and  chemical  composition,  they  may 
be  classed  into  three  great  divisions  as  regards  their 
origin,  and  this  classification  in  a  measure  also  classi- 
fies them  as  to  physical  qualities. 

"  First  are  the  drift  soils  of  the  !Nbrth,  occupying  the 
principal  portion  of  the  States  lying  north  of  the  Ohio 
and  east  of  the  Missouri  River.  It  is  a  theory  of  geolo- 
gists that  in  a  previous  age  of  the  earth  the  northern 
hemisphere  had  a  very  much  colder  climate  than  now; 
that  ice  in  the  form  of  glaciers  covered  all  the  more 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      189 

northern  latitudes  and  extended  down  into  these  por- 
tions of  the  United  States  already  indicated,  producing 
important  effects  on  the  topography  of  the  country. 
When  the  ice  melted  the  finely  ground  rock  powder  was 
left,  the  glacial  drift  of  to-day.  This  drift,  sometimes 
forming  but  a  thin  layer  over  the  underlying  rock, 
sometimes  forming  a  very  thick  layer,  is  made  up  of 
the  mingled  materials  brought  from  various  geological 
formations  lying  to  the  north  of  the  place  where  they 
are  now  found.  The  soils  of  this  drift  are  usually 
gravelly,  often  stony,  of  variable  fertility,  embracing 
alike  the  noted  fertile  soils  of  Ohio  and  of  western 
New  York  and  the  most  barren  portions  of  New  Eng- 
land. As  a  whole,  these  soils  grow  more  productive 
as  we  travel  southward  and  westward  from  New  Eng- 
land and  western  New  York.  As  a  whole  they  are 
durable.  When  over-cropped  and  worn  out  even,  as 
often  occurs,  they  readily  recuperate,  with  rest,  by  the 
slow  disintegration  of  the  mingled  materials  of  which 
they  are  composed. 

"  According  to  geologists,  the  southern  limit  of  this 
drift-soil  extends  across  Long  Island,  crossing  New 
Jersey  at  its  upper  third;  thence  across  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  entering  it  and  leaving  it  about  midway, 
entering  Ohio  near  where  the  Ohio  River  strikes  the 
State,  passing  southwesterly,  leaving  the  State  near  the 
Ohio  River,  following  along  the  southern  borders  of 
Indiana  in  or  near  the  southern  tier  of  counties,  not 
crossing  the  river  at  all  unless  it  be  for  a  very  small 
region,  where  the  three  States  of  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
Kentucky  come  together;  thence  westward,  crossing  the 
Mississippi  above  its  junction  with  the  Ohio ;  then  west- 
wardly  and  a  little  northerly  across  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri, keeping  south  of  the  Missouri  River,  leaving  the 


190  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

State  at  about  Cass  or  Bates  County,  and  entering 
Kansas  in  perhaps  Miami  County,  thence  northwesterly, 
crossing  the  Kansas  Kiver  in  Eiley  County,  entering 
Nebraska  at  or  near  Jefferson  County;  crossing  the 
Platte  probably  at  Polk  County;  thence  northwesterly 
to  Holt  County.  West  of  the  Mississippi  River  these 
boundaries  are  ill-defined,  and  in  all  of  the  Western 
States  there  are  large  areas  where  the  soil  is  so  modi- 
fied by  other  influences  that  agriculturally  its  drift 
character  is  almost  wholly  lost. 

"  The  second  great  class  of  soils  occupies  the  undu- 
lating parts  of  the  country  lying  south  of  the  drift. 
They  have  been  made  by  the  decomposition  of  the 
rocks  which  have  occupied  their  present  position.  The 
natural  action  of  water,  air,  and  the  gases  which  they 
contain,  along  with  varying  temperature,  tends  to  dis- 
integrate the  rocks.  Even  the  hardest  will  weather 
in  the  course  of  time.  Some  decompose  rapidly,  others 
more  slowly,  but  all  in  such  a  climate  as  ours  ulti- 
mately will  be  reduced  to  a  soil.  The  immediate  sur- 
face disintegrates  more  rapidly  in  a  cold  climate,  where 
frost  aids  the  process,  but  ultimate  chemical  decompo- 
sition goes  on  more  readily  in  a  warm  climate  than  in 
a  cold  one,  particularly  if  it  have  abundant  rains.  If 
a  region  is  fertile  and  the  climate  favorable,  so  that 
there  is  an  abundant  vegetation  on  the  surface,  which 
produces  carbonic  acid  and  other  solvent  products  by 
its  decay,  the  decomposition  goes  on  more  rapidly  be- 
neath. If  the  underlying  rocks  are  of  limestone,  then 
large  quantities  of  the  lime  are  dissolved,  and  if  the 
limestones  are  impure,  Containing  much  insoluble  mat- 
ter, the  solution  of  the  soluble  carbonate  of  lime  leaves 
a  soil  composed  largely  of  the  insoluble  remains.  Such 
soils  are  often  of  extraordinary  fertility,  illustrious  ex- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      191 

amples  of  which  are  seen  in  the  so-called  blue-grass 
regions  of  Kentucky.  These  soils  are  well  known  by 
reason  of  their  great  natural  fertility. 

"  Throughout  the  Southern  States,  on  the  slopes  and 
the  uplands,  we  have  a  great  variety  of  soils  produced 
by  the  chemical  and  the  mechanical  disintegration  of 
rocks,  possessing  every  variety  of  character,  both  as 
regards  chemical  fertility  and  physical  texture.  Some 
of  them,  particularly  when  produced  from  certain  sand- 
stones, are  poor  and  easily  exhausted,  and  when  ex- 
hausted do  not  recuperate  readily,  of  which  we  have 
examples  in  some  of  the  more  barren  land  flanking 
several  of  the  chains  of  the  Appalachian  system. 
Others  possess  great  power  for  rapid  recuperation,  as, 
for  example,  the  blue-grass  region  of  Kentucky,  where 
the  calcareous  portions  of  the  soil  rapidly  disintegrate 
or  are  changed  by  chemical  action,  and  where  there  is 
an  abundant  source  of  the  elements  of  fertility  in  the 
rocks  themselves.  The  state  geologist  of  Kentucky 
gives  interesting  illustrations  of  this  power.  Certain 
areas  inclosed  within  the  region  already  described  as 
being  occupied  by  drift  have  been  modified  by  these 
same  influences.  Professor  Whitney,  former  state 
geologist  of  Iowa,  states  that  some  of  the  fertile  prairie 
soils  of  that  State  —  those  where  the  soil  is  of  almost 
impalpable  fineness  —  have  been  produced  by  the  slow 
solution  of  beds  of  limestone  which  formerly  occupied 
their  places.  In  the  course  of  ages,  under  the  influence 
already  spoken  of,  the  insoluble  limestone  has  been  dis- 
solved, the  solution  borne  away  to  the  ocean  in  the 
rivers,  and  the  small  percentage  of  insoluble  residue  is 
left,  forming  the  thick  prairie  soil  of  the  region,  which 
has  since  become  blackened  by  the  decay  of  abundant 
vegetation  produced  upon  it.  From  the  nature  of  the 


192  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

case  we  have  a  very  great  variety  of  soils  belonging  to 
this  class. 

"  The  third  class  includes  all  of  the  alluvial  soils 
formed  by  deposition  from  rivers  and  streams,  of  which 
we  have  such  abundant  examples  about  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi.  They  constitute  all  the  bottom  lands 
of  the  West,  and  indeed  of  the  whole  country.  They 
also  are  found  in  places,  particularly  in  the  West, 
occupying  the  beds  of  ancient  lakes,  a  notable  example 
of  which  is  found  in  the  fertile  soils  of  Dakota,  popu- 
larly known  as  the  Red  River  region.  Here  was  an  an- 
cient lake  of  very  great  size,  known  to  geologists  as  Lake 
Agassiz,  extending  southward  of  Lake  Traverse,  on  Red 
River,  widening  northward  and  extending  on  both  sides 
of  the  river,  perhaps  fifty-five  or  sixty  miles  wide ;  there 
its  bed  leaves  the  country,  expanding  to  much  greater 
width  northward  in  Manitoba.  This  tract  is  exceed- 
ingly level,  the  soil  of  varying  depth,  very  fine,  black 
with  the  decomposition  of  vegetable  matter,  and  very 
fertile.  As  we  proceed  westward  soils  belonging  to  this 
class  contain  less  and  less  vegetable  matter,  although 
not  necessarily  less  fertile,  until  in  the  valleys  of  Cali- 
fornia we  have  in  places  soils  of  great  fertility  which 
contain  very  little  vegetable  matter  (humus).  The 
amount  of  vegetable  matter  coloring  the  soil  black 
depends  very  largely  on  the  temperature,  climate  and 
on  the  amount  of  water.  There  is  little  of  such  matter 
in  a  dry  region  or  in  a  region  subject  to  periodical 
droughts,  and  yet  such  a  soil  may  be  very  fertile  in  the 
mineral  constituents  necessary  for  grain,  and  in  sea- 
sons, with  sufficient  rain  or  by  irrigation,  very  large 
crops  may  be  grown. 

"  These  three  classes  of  soils  run  into  each  other  by 
insensible  gradations.  The  classification  is  given  as 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      193 

merely  a  general  one.  We  may  say  in  a  general  way 
that  corn  flourishes  best  on  soils  of  the  third  class,  and 
that  it  probably  is  mostly  produced  there,  and  wheat 
on  the  first  and  the  third  classes,  more  probably  being 
produced  on  the  first  class.  But  individual  soils  of  the 
second  class  are  even  more  fertile  than  those  found  in 
either  the  first  or  the  third. 

"  A  notable  example  of  the  soils  of  the  second  class 
is  found  on  the  table-lands  of  eastern  Oregon  and 
Washington;  the  underlying  rock  is  volcanic,  which  by 
its  decomposition  has  given  rise  to  a  soil  of  very  great 
fertility  and  of  easy  tillage.  The  experience  of  the 
Old  World  with  volcanic  soils  about  the  Mediterranean 
and  in  the  Rhine  region,  some  of  which  soils  have  vine- 
yards of  great  age  upon  them,  indicates  that  these  soils 
of  eastern  Oregon  and  Washington  will  retain  their 
fertility  for  a  great  period,  and  it  is  probable  will  ulti- 
mately support  a  dense  population  and  produce  a  great 
variety  of  agricultural  products.  This  area  is  now 
rapidly  gaining  as  a  wheat  region.  Barley  and  oats 
grow  well,  and  are  of  most  excellent  quality,  but  the 
climate  is  unfavorable  to  Indian  corn." 

FURTHER  DETAILS  OF  CLASSIFICATION. 

I  have  given  above  some  of  the  general  principles 
of  the  classification  of  soils,  but  not  in  sufficient  detail 
for  the  information  of  the  farmer  seeking  knowledge 
on  this  important  question.  In  regard  to  their  method 
of  deposition  soils  are  divided  into  five  classes: 

1.  Those  which  are  formed  from  the  decomposition 
of  crystalline  or  sedimentary  rocks  or  of  unconsolidatcd 
sedimentary  material  in  situ. 

2.  Those  which  have  been  moved  by  water  from  the 
place  of  their  original  formation  and  deposited  by  sub- 


194  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

sidence  (bottom  lands,  alluvial  soils,  lacustrine  deposits, 
etc.). 

3.  Those  which  have  been  deposited  as  debris  from 
moving  masses  of  ice  (glacial  drift). 

4.  Soils  formed  from  volcanic  ashes  or  from  ma- 
terials moved  by  the  wind  and  deposited  in  low  places 
or  in  hills  or  ridges. 

5.  Those  formed  chiefly  from  the  decay  of  vegetable 
matter  (tule,  peat,  etc.). 

The  importance  of  a  more  extended  notice  of  this 
class  of  soils  for  analytical  purposes  is  emphasized  by 
their  large  extent  in  the  United  States. 

AT.TTAT.T     SOILS. 

Chiefly  through  the  researches  of  Hilgard  attention 
has  been  called  to  the  true  character  of  these  soils 
which  are  found  throughout  a  large  part  of  the  western 
United  States  and  which  are  known  by  the  common 
name  of  alkali.  The  following  description  of  the  origin 
of  these  soils  is  compiled  chiefly  from  Hilgard's  papers 
on  this  subject.  Wherever  the  rain-fall  is  scanty,  and 
especially  where  the  rains  do  not  come  at  any  one  time 
with  sufficient  force  to  thoroughly  saturate  the  soil 
and  carry  down  through  the  subsoil  and  off  through 
the  drainage  waters  the  alkali  contained  therein,  favor- 
able conditions  exist  for  the  production  of  the  alkaline 
soil  mentioned  above.  The  peculiar  characteristic  of 
this  soil  is  the  efflorescence  which  occurs  upon  its  sur- 
face and  which  is  due  to  the  raising  of  soluble  salts  in 
the  soil  by  the  water  rising  through  capillary  attraction 
and  evaporating  from  the  surface,  leaving  the  salts  as 
an  efflorescence. 

Soils  which  contain  a  large  amount  of  alkali  are 
usually  very  rich  in  mineral  plant  food,  and  if  the  ex- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      195 

cess  of  soluble  salts  could  be  removed,  these  lands  under 
favorable  conditions  of  moisture  and  temperature  would 
produce  large  crops. 

The  formation  of  the  alkali  may  be  briefly  described 
as  follows:  By  the  decomposition  of  the  native  rocks, 
certain  salts  soluble  in  water  are  formed.  These  salts 
in  the  present  matter  are  chiefly  sodium  and  potassium 
sulfates,  chlorids  and  carbonates.  The  salts  of  potash 
together  with  those  of  lime  are  more  tenaciously  held 
by  the  soil  than  the  soluble  salts  of  soda,  and  the  re- 
sult of  this  natural  affinity  of  the  soil  for  soluble  potash, 
lime  and  magnesian  salts  is  seen  in  the  formation  at 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  by  the  process  of  evaporation 
above  described,  of  a  crust  of  alkaline  material  which 
is  chiefly  composed  of  the  soluble  salts  of  soda.  In 
countries  which  have  a  sufficient  amount  of  rainfall, 
these  soluble  salts  are  carried  away  either  by  the  sur- 
face drainage  or  by  the  percolation  of  water  through 
the  soil,  and  the  sodium  chlorid  is  accumulated  in  this 
way  in  the  waters  of  the  ocean.  But  where  a  sufficient 
amount  of  rain-fall  does  not  occur,  these  soluble  salts 
carried  down  by  each  shower  only  to  a  certain  depth 
rise  again  on  the  evaporation  of  the  water,  reinforced 
by  any  additional  soluble  material  which  may  be  found 
in  the  soil  itself.  The  three  most  important  ingre- 
dients of  the  alkali  of  the  lands  referred  to  are  sodium 
chlorid,  sulfate,  and  carbonate.  When  the  latter  salt, 
namely,  sodium  carbonate,  is  present  in  predominant 
quantity,  it  gives  rise  to  what  is  popularly  known  as 
black  alkali.  This  black  color  is  due  to  the  dark  col- 
ored solution  which  sodium  carbonate  makes  with  the 
organic  matters  or  humus  of  the  soil.  The  black 
alkali  is  far  more  injurious  to  growing  vegetation  than 
the  white  alkali  composed  chiefly  of  sodium  sulfate  and 


196  THE  LURE  OP  THE  LAND 

chlorid.     Its  presence  in  very  small  quantity  is  suf- 
ficient to  prevent  vegetation. 

TREATMENT    OF   BLACK    ALKALI. 

This  black  alkali  has  been  very  successfully  treated 
by  Hilgard  by  the  application  of  gypsum  which  react- 
ing with  the  sodium  carbonate  produces  calcium  car- 
bonate and  sodium  sulfate,  thus  converting  the  black 
into  the  white  alkali  and  adding  an  ingredient  in  the 
shape  of  lime  carbonate  to  stiff  soils  which  tends  to 
make  them  more  pulverulent  and  easy  of  tillage. 

This  method  of  treatment,  however,  as  can  be  easily 
seen,  is  only  palliative,  the  whole  amount  of  the  alka- 
line substances  being  still  left  in  the  soil,  only  in  a  less 
injurious  form. 

The  only  perfect  remedy  for  alkaline  soils,  as  has 
been  pointed  out  by  Hilgard,  is  in  the  introduction  of 
underdrainage  in  connection  with  irrigation.  The 
partial  irrigation  of  alkaline  soils,  affording  enough 
moisture  to  carry  the  alkali  down  to  and  perhaps  par- 
tially through  the  subsoil,  can  produce  only  a  tempo- 
rary alleviation  of  the  difficulties  produced  by  the  alkali. 
Subsequent  evaporation  may  indeed  increase  the  amount 
of  surface  incrustation.  For  this  reason  in  many  cases 
the  practice  of  irrigation  without  underdrainage  may 
completely  ruin  an  otherwise  fertile  soil  by  slowly  in- 
creasing the  amount  of  alkali  therein  by  the  total  amount 
of  the  alkaline  material  added  in  the  waters  of  irriga- 
tion and  brought  to  the  surface  by  the  evaporation  of 
the  temporarily  deeper  percolation  of  the  water. 

As  Hilgard  has  pointed  out,  if  a  soil  can  be  practically 
freed  from  alkali  by  underdrainage  connected  with  a 
thorough  saturation  by  irrigation,  it  may  be  centuries 
before  the  alkali  will  accumulate  in  that  soil  again 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      197 

when  ordinary  irrigation  only  is  practised.  It  may 
thus  become  possible  to  reclaim  large  extents  of  alka- 
line soil  little  by  little  by  treating  them  with  an  excess 
of  irrigation  water  in  connection  with  thorough  under- 
drainage. 

ADOBE   SOILS. 

In  many  parts  of  the  arid  regions  of  this  country 
which  can  be  recovered  for  agricultural  purposes  by  ir- 
rigation the  soil  has  peculiar  characteristics. 

The  name  adobe  as  commonly  used  applies  to  both 
the  sun-dried  bricks  of  the  arid  regions  of  the  West  and 
Southwest,  and  to  the  materials  of  which  they  are  com- 
posed. The  material  is  described  by  Russell  as  a  fine 
grained  porous  earth,  varying  in  color  through  many 
shades  of  gray  and  yellow,  which  crumbles  between  the 
fingers,  and  separates  most  readily  in  a  vertical  direc- 
tion. The  coherency  of  the  material  is  so  great  that 
vertical  scarps  will  stand  for  many  years  without  form- 
ing a  noticeable  talus. 

The  area  over  which  adobe  forms  a  large  part  of  the 
surface  has  not  been  accurately  mapped,  but  enough 
is  known  to  indicate  that  it  is  essentially  co-extensive 
with  the  more  arid  portions  of  this  country.  In  a  very 
general  way  it  may  be  considered  as  being  limited  to 
the  region  in  which  the  mean  annual  rain-fall  is  less 
than  twenty  inches.  It  forms  the  surface  over  large 
portions  of  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  western  Texas, 
Arizona,  southern  California,  Nevada,  Utah,  southern 
Oregon,  southern  Idaho,  and  Wyoming.  Adobe  occurs 
also  in  Mexico  and  may  there  reach  a  greater  develop- 
ment than  in  the  United  States,  but  observations  con- 
cerning it  south  of  the  Rio  Grande  are  wanting. 

In  the  United  States  it  occurs  from  near  the  sea- 


198  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

level  in  Arizona,  and  even  below  the  sea-level  in  south- 
ern California,  up  to  an  elevation  of  at  least  6,000  or 
8,000  feet,  along  the  eastern  border  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  in  the  elevated  valleys  of  New  Mexico,  Colo- 
rado, and  Wyoming.  It  occupies  depressions  of  all 
sizes  up  to  valleys  having  an  area  of  hundreds  of  square 
miles.  Although  occurring  throughout  the  arid  re- 
gion, it  can  be  studied  to  best  advantage  in  the  drain- 
less  and  lakeless  basins  in  Nevada,  Utah,  and  Arizona. 

PEAT  SOILS. 

The  heavy  soils  whose  origin  has  been  described  are 
essentially  of  a  mineral  nature.  The  quantity  of  or- 
ganic matter  in  such  soils  may  vary  from  a  mere  trace 
to  a  few  per  cent.,  but  they  never  lose  their  mineral 
characteristics.  When  a  soil  on  the  other  hand  is  com- 
posed almost  exclusively  of  vegetable  mold  it  belongs 
to  quite  another  type.  Such  soils  are  called  tule,  peat 
or  muck.  In  this  country  there  are  thousands  of  acres 
of  peat  or  muck  soils;  the  largest  contiguous  deposits 
being  found  in  southern  Florida.  The  origin  of  these 
soils  is  easily  understood.  Whenever  rank  vegetation 
grows  in  such  a  location  as  to  secure  for  the  organic 
matter  formed  a  slow  decay,  there  is  a  tendency  to  the 
accumulation  of  vegetable  mold  in  shallow  water  or  on 
marshy  ground  and  where  other  conditions  are  favor- 
able to  such  accumulations.  In  Florida  the  peaty  soils 
have  been  accumulated  about  the  margins  of  lakes. 
During  the  rainy  season  the  marshes  bordering  these 
are  partly  covered  with  water,  but  the  vegetation  is 
very  luxuriant.  The  water  protects  the  vegetable  mat- 
ter from  being  destroyed  by  fire.  It  therefore  accumu- 
lates from  year  to  year  and  is  gradually  compacted  into 
quite  a  uniform  mass  of  vegetable  mold. 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      199 

The  ultimate  composition  of  the  mold  is  illustrated 
in  the  following  table  which  shows  the  character  of  the 
layers  at  one,  two  and  three  feet  in  depth : 

Depth      Carbon    Hydrogen    Nitrogen      Vegetable  matter 

and  moisture 
%  %  %  % 

1  foot. . .  .57.67         4.48  2.24  90.60 

2  feet. . .  .47.07          5.15  1.40  72.00 

3  feet....  8.52          0.53  0.31  15.00 

In  this  sample,  the  mold  was  only  three  feet  deep, 
resting  on  pure  sand.  As  the  bottom  of  the  de- 
posit is  approached  the  admixture  of  sand  becomes 
greater  and  the  percentage  of  organic  matter  less. 

~No  reliable  estimate  of  the  time  which  has  been  re- 
quired to  form  these  deposits  can  be  given,  but  in  the 
Okeechobee  region  in  Florida  the  deposit  of  vegetable 
mold  in  some  places  exceeds  ten  feet  in  depth. 

The  purest  vegetable  or  peat  soils  contain  only  small 
quantities  of  potash  and  phosphoric  acid,  and  espe- 
cially is  this  true  of  the  Florida  deposits  which  have 
been  formed  of  vegetable  growth  containing  very  little 
mineral  matter. 

It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  the  flora  now  growing 
on  any  particular  area  of  virgin  peat  contains  all  the 
plants  that  have  contributed  to  its  formation.  The 
principal  vegetable  growths  now  going  to  make  up  the 
peat  soils  of  Florida  are  the  following: 

Common  names. 

Saw  grass  Fern  brake 

Yellow  pond  lily  Mallow 

Maiden  cane  grass  Broom  sedge 

Alligator  Wampee  Arrow  Weed 

Sedge 

The  above  are  only  the  plants  growing  in  the  great- 


200          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

est  profusion  and  do  not  include  all  which  are  now  con- 
tributing to  increase  the  store  of  vegetable  debris. 

NATURE   OF    HUMUS. 

The  active  principle  of  vegetable  mold  is  called 
humus,  a  term  used  to  designate  in  general  the  products 
of  the  decomposition  of  vegetable  matter  as  they  are 
found  in  soils.  In  peat  and  vegetable  soils  is  found  a 
mixture  of  humus  with  undecomposed  or  partially  de- 
composed vegetation. 

According  to  Kostyschoff  vegetable  matter  decays  un- 
der the  influence  of  molds  and  bacteria.  Molds  alone 
produce  the  dark  colored  matters  which  give  soils  rich 
in  vegetable  matter,  their  color.  One  chief  character- 
istic of  humus  is  its  richness  in  nitrogen.  Black  Russian 
soil  contains  from  4  to  6.65  per  cent,  of  nitrogen.  This 
soil  is  estimated  to  contain  60,000,000  organisms  per 
gram  and  much  of  the  nitrogen  which  it  holds  must  be 
in  the  form  of  proteid  derivatives.  The  first  develop- 
ment in  decaying  vegetable  matter  is  of  bacteria  and 
there  is  a  tendency  of  the  decaying  matter  to  become 
acid.  This  causes  the  death  of  the  bacteria  and  the 
ammonia  produced  thereby  neutralizes  the  -acid.  The 
various  kinds  of  mold  grow  when  the  reaction  becomes 
neutral.  Afterwards  the  bacteria  and  the  molds  de- 
velop together.  This  statement  of  Kostyschoff  is  not  a 
very  satisfactory  explanation  of  even  our  limited  knowl- 
edge of  the  decomposition  of  organic  matters  in  the 
soil.  Ammonia  and  ammonia  salts  are  formed  not  by 
the  decay  of  some  forms  of  bacteria  but  by  the  activi- 
ties of  other  forms.  It  has  been  found  that  in  nitri- 
fication there  are  three  distinct  forms  of  bacteria  con- 
cerned in  the  final  products  of  ammonia,  nitrites,  and 
nitrates.  Humus  always  contains  easily  decomposable 


Photo  by  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture 

LARVA    OF    THE    COTTON    BOLL    WEEVIL 


Photo  by  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture 

ADULT    COTTON    BOLL    WEEVIL 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      201 

matter  and  consequently  the  rate  of  decay  in  similar 
conditions  at  any  observed  periods  is  nearly  the  same. 
In  humus  which  is  produced  above  the  water-level 
Kostyschoff  states  that  all  trace  of  the  vegetable  struc- 
ture is  destroyed  by  the  leaves  being  gnawed  and  passed 
through  the  bodies  of  caterpillars  and  wire-worms. 
Under  the  water-level  the  vegetable  structure  is  pre- 
served and  peat  results.  The  decay  of  humus  is  most 
rapid  in  drained  and  open  soils.  For  this  reason  the 
presence  of  clay  in  a  soil  promotes  the  accumulation  of 
humus.  Inferior  organisms  are  the  means  of  diffus- 
ing organic  matter  through  the  soil.  The  mycelia  of 
fungi  grow  on  a  dead  root  for  instance,  ramify  later- 
ally and  thus  carry  organic  matter  outward  and  suc- 
ceeding organisms  extend  this  action  and  the  soil  be- 
comes darkened  in  proportion.  Humic  acid  in  black 
soil  is  almost  exclusively  in  combination  with  lime. 

A  more  common  view  of  the  difference  between  the 
formation  of  humus  above  and  below  the  water-level  is 
that  above  the  water-level  there  is  a  very  free  access  of 
air  and  even  the  harder  parts  of  the  leaf  skeleton  can 
be  oxidized  through  the  agency  of  bacteria,  while  under 
the  water-level  there  is  a  very  limited  supply  of  air 
and  this  oxidation  cannot  proceed  as  rapidly.  The 
harder  parts  of  the  leaf  skeleton  are  preserved,  and 
from  the  freer  access  of  air  humus  is  oxidized  more 
readily  in  drained  and  open  soils,  and  accumulates  in 
clay  soils  where  there  is  less  circulation  of  air. 

The  quantity  of  humus  in  the  soils  of  arid  regions 
is  by  no  means  so  great  as  in  those  of  abundant  rain- 
fall. 

Few  of  the  upland  arid  soils  of  the  Pacific  Coast  con- 
tain over  .4  per  cent,  of  humus,  that  is  the  "  matiere 
noire  "  of  Grandeau.  This  difference  according  to  Hil- 


2D2  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

gard  is  of  importance  because  the  humus  of  the  soil  is 
the  chief  repository  of  one  of  the  most  costly  of  the 
plant  foods,  viz.,  nitrogen. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  however  that  such  soils  are 
very  deficient  in  nitrogenous  food  since  it  appears  that 
the  humus  of  the  arid  soil  has  a  higher  percentage  of 
nitrogen  than  that  found  in  soils  with  abundant  water 
supply. 

The  real  composition  of  humus  is  a  matter  which  has 
never  been  definitely  determined.  Composed  as  it  is 
of  many  different  but  closely  related  substances  it  has 
been  difficult  to  isolate  and  determine  them. 

At  the  present  time  we  can  only  regard  the  various 
forms  of  humus  bodies  as  mixtures  of  many  substances 
mostly  of  an  acid  nature,  and  resulting  from  a  gradual 
decomposition  of  organic  matter  under  conditions  which 
partially  exclude  free  access  of  oxygen. 

Whether  humus  takes  any  direct  part  in  the  nutri- 
tion of  green  plants  is  not  definitely  known.  De  Saus- 
sure  held  that  soluble  humus  was  assimilated  directly 
by  vegetables  and  this  is  probably  the  case  with  those 
plants,  such  as  mushrooms,  which  are  devoid  of  chloro- 
phyl. 

Liebig  held  that  humic  acid  is  not  absorbed  by  plants 
and  that  as  such  it  does  not  form  a  part  of  their  food. 
Humic  acid  being  of  a  colloidal  nature  is  not  well  suited 
to  engage  in  the  translations  which  take  place  so  readily 
with  crystalline  bodies  in  solution  and  which  readily 
change  their  location  under  the  stress  of  osmotic  pres- 
sure. 

Petermann  found  however  that  such  bodies  could  be 
dialyzed  in  certain  circumstances  and  he  succeeded  in 
passing  through  membranes  highly  nitrogenized  organic 
matter  of  an  amber  color. 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      203 

I  have  found  that  sugar  canes  grown  in  peat  soils 
contained  a  quantity  of  dark  colored  organic  matter  in 
their  sap  which  persisted  even  in  the  raw  sugar  made 
therefrom. 

I  further  found  that  the  quantity  of  amid  nitrogen 
in  oats  was  greatly  increased  when  grown  on  peaty  soil. 

The  chief  functions  of  humus  appear  to  he  to  mod- 
ify the  physical  conditions  of  the  soil  with  reference  to 
texture,  moisture,  absorption  of  heat  and  mineral  mat- 
ters useful  to  plants  and  especially  to  hold  in  suitable 
form  for  progressive  nitrification  the  partially  decayed 
nitrogenous  principles  of  vegetable  matters. 

SOIL   AND    SUBSOIL. 

Many  subdivisions  have  been  made  of  the  above  va- 
rieties of  soil,  but  they  have  little  value  for  practical 
purposes.  For  convenience  in  description  for  agricul- 
tural purposes,  the  soil,  however,  is  further  divided 
into  soil  and  subsoil.  In  this  sense  the  soil  comprises 
that  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  ground,  usually  from 
four  to  nine  inches  deep,  containing  most  of  thfc  organic 
remains  of  plants  and  animals  and  in  which  air  circu- 
lates more  or  less  freely  for  the  proper  humification  of 
the  organic  matter,  which  usually  gives  a  darker  color  to 
the  soil  than  to  the  subsoil.  The  subsoil  proper  lies 
below  this,  and  has  usually  more  characteristic  prop- 
erties, especially  in  respect  of  color  and  texture,  as  it  has 
been  less  influenced  by  artificial  conditions  of  cultiva- 
tion and  the  remains  of  vegetation. 

The  subsoil  extends  to  an  indefinite  depth  and  is 
limited  usually  by  deposits  of  undecomposed  or  partly 
decomposed  rock  matter,  or  by  layers  of  clay,  sand  or 
gravel. 

Uilgard  regards  as  subsoil  whatever  lies  beneath  the 


204  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

line  of  change  of  color,  or  below  the  minimum  depth 
of  six  inches.  But  should  the  change  of  color  occur 
at  a  greater  depth  than  12  inches,  the  soil  specimen 
should  nevertheless  be  removed  to  the  depth  of  12 
inches  only,  which  is  the  limit  of  ordinary  tillage ;  then 
another  specimen  from  that  depth  down  to  the  line  of 
change,  and  then  the  subsoil  specimens  beneath  that 
line.  The  depth  to  which  the  last  should  extend  will 
depend  upon  circumstances.  It  is  always  desirable  to 
know  what  constitutes  the  foundation  of  a  soil  to  the 
depth  of  three  feet  at  least,  since  the  question  of  drain- 
age, resistance  to  drought,  etc.,  will  depend  essentially 
upon  the  nature  of  the  substratum. 

It  is  evident  that  no  rigid  definition  of  the  differ- 
ence between  soil  and  subsoil  can  be  made  as  the  one 
gradually  merges  into  the  other.  In  general  it  may  be 
said  from  the  practical  point  of  view  that  the  soil  is 
that  part  of  the  surface  of  the  field  extending  to  a  depth 
of  nine  inches  or  to  the  depth  turned  by  good  plowing 
and  the  subsoil  the  layer  of  nine  inches  in  depth  im- 
mediately underneath  the  soil. 

The  Bureau  of  Soils,  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, has  undertaken  a  re-classification  and  naming  of 
types  of  soils  on  a  vast  scale.  The  number  of  such  dif- 
ferent types  which  have  already  been  described  is  prob- 
ably more  than  a  thousand.  This  detail  of  classifica- 
tion is  wholly  unwarranted  from  a  scientific  stand- 
point, since  it  gives  certain  geographic  names  of  locali- 
ties in  great  numbers  to  a  soil  of  practically  a  single 
type.  Only  the  utmost  confusion  can  result  from  an 
attempt  to  make  permanent  such  finely  drawn  differ- 
ences as  are  found  to  exist  among  soils  of  this  kind. 
The  classification  which  has  been  given  in  the  preced- 
ing descriptions  is  entirely  sufficient  for  both  practical 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      205 

and  scientific  purposes.  It  is  unfortunate  that  such 
great  prolixity  of  names  for  slight  variations  has  come 
into  vogue. 

VARIETY    OF    CROPS, 

Within  the  borders  of  the,  United  States  is  grown 
every  agricultural  crop  known  to  the  world.  Our  soil 
produces  immense  quantities  of  the  cereals;  of  fiber 
plants,  including  especially  cotton  and  flax;  of  sugar- 
producing  plants,  including  sugar  cane,  sugar  beets, 
sorghum,  and  maple  trees;  all  kinds  of  vegetables  and 
fruits;  medicinal  plants  of  great  variety;  forest  prod- 
ucts of  all  kinds,  and  spices  and  condiments  of  every 
description. 

WILL  OUR  SOILS  PRODUCE  ENOUGH  FOR  FUTURE 
GENERATIONS  ? 

There  is  one  question  which  constantly  presents  it- 
self to  the  mind  of  the  political  economist,  namely,  Is 
the  rate  of  increase  in  population  to  be  diminished,  or, 
if  continued,  will  the  food  supply  be  exhausted  in  the 
near  or  remote  future  ?  In  looking  for  answers  to  these 
questions,  political  economists  must  consult  scientific 
agriculture.  In  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
agriculture  to  science  is  found  the  only  safe  response. 
It  is  certain  that  under  the  fostering  care  of  this  coun- 
try and  with  wise  and  well  directed  engineering,  many 
millions  of  acres  of  rich  land  can  be  procured  for  agri- 
cultural purposes  through  irrigation.  Science  teaches 
us  in  many  other  ways  the  methods  of  making  the  farm, 
to  a  certain  extent,  independent  of  the  variations  in 
rainfall.  The  true  principles  of  conserving  moisture 
for  the  purpose  of  crop  production,  and  of  utilizing  to 
the  best  advantage  the  excess  of  precipitation,  are  now 


206  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

well  known  and  are  daily  taught  to  our  people.  Sci- 
entific forestry  is  increasing  the  number  of  trees  and 
bringing  large  areas  into  tree  culture  which  before  were 
only  featureless  plains.  What  the  effect  of  tree  plant- 
ing will  be  upon  the  climate  is  not  known  with  cer- 
tainty, but  the  general  impression  is  that  the  more 
abundant  the  growth  of  trees,  the  more  readily  is  mois- 
ture preserved  for  agricultural  purposes,  while  the  in- 
tensity and  extent  of  floods  are  diminished. 

The  true  principles  of  fertilization  are  annually  in- 
creasing the  average  product  of  the  older  farm  lands  of 
the  community.  The  principles  of  cattle  feeding  are 
introducing  important  economies  into  the  utilization  of 
farm  products.  We  have  no  reason  to  think  that  the 
average  wheat  crop,  for  instance,  in  the  United  States 
may  not  increase  in  the  amount  grown  per  acre.  An 
increase  of  a  bushel  and  a  half  per  acre  will  give,  in 
round  numbers,  an  increase  of  sixty  million  bushels  to 
the  crop.  The  scientific  farmer  can  readily  double  and 
treble  his  crop,  and  so,  without  increasing  the  acreage, 
supply  double  or  treble  the  amount  of  wheat.  The 
same  principle  is  true  of  other  crops.  The  future  soil 
fertility  will  increase,  not  dimmish.  The  average  out- 
put of  each  acre  will  grow.  While  the  capacity  of  the 
mouth  to  consume  remains  constant  through  all  centu- 
ries, the  capacity  of  the  hands  to  furnish  food  is  con- 
stantly increasing.  In  most  cases  there  are  two  hands 
to  one  mouth.  We  need  not  fear,  therefore,  a  period 
of  world  starvation  due  to  the  exhaustion  of  the  food- 
producing  capacity  of  the  soil.  If  universal  hunger 
does  come,  it  will  not  be  from  this  cause.  It  may  be 
—  I  would  not  deny  it  —  that  the  final  fate  of  man  on 
earth  is  starvation  or  freezing,  but  the  remote  future 
at  which  such  calamities  can  occur  makes  their  event 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES      207 

for  practical  purposes  infinitely  removed.  We  are  now 
feeding,  within  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States, 
nearly  one  hundred  million  people.  When  in  a  hun- 
dred years  from  now  we  are  feeding  two  hundred  mil- 
lion people,  the  quantity  of  food  per  head  will  be  no 
less  abundant  than  at  present  In  those  days  now  so 
near  at  hand  agriculture  will  be  more  a  science  and 
more  an  art.  The  fields  will  all  be  gardens,  and  the 
forests  sources  of  income  without  destruction.  The 
life  of  man  will  be  full  of  amenities  which  are  now 
denied  the  tiller  of  the  soil,  and  the  true  aristocracy  of 
the  earth  will  be  composed  of  those  in  direct  touch  with 
earth  herself. 


XXI 

WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS? 

IT  is  well  known  to  every  student  of  statistical  his- 
tory, and  to  every  practical  farmer  who  has  had  ac- 
cess at  some  time  or  other  to  what  is  known  as  virgin 
soils,  that  the  natural  fertility  of  a  soil  rapidly  disap- 
pears under  the  methods  of  American  agriculture  which 
have  heen  chiefly  in  vogue.  If  one  of  the  theories  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  is  true,  namely,  that 
poverty  of  soil  is  due  to  the  decay  of  the  organic  mat- 
ter of  previous  crops  leaving  poisonous  bodies  behind, 
then  the  virgin  soils  of  this  country  ought  to  be  at  a 
maximum  of  poverty  when  they  are  first  cultivated. 
If  they  be  of  the  forest,  they  have  in  them  the  remains 
of  unnumbered  years  of  forest  decay.  If  they  be 
prairie,  they  have  the  remains  of  unnumbered  years  of 
root  and  grass  decay.  Theoretically,  therefore,  if  the 
above-mentioned  theory  is  correct  they  should  have 
reached  the  minimum  of  production.  On  the  contrary, 
such  soils  always  have  the  maximum  of  production.  It 
is  difficult  to  keep  a  crop  from  growing  after  the  forest 
has  been  removed  or  the  prairie  sod  has  been  turned. 
The  agriculture  of  the  past  has  been  chiefly  the  ex- 
ploitation of  these  stores  of  natural  fertility. 

It  is  pertinent  to  ask,  how  has  this  depression  of  soil 
fertility,  as  shown  in  the  diminishing  crop  production, 
been  secured  ?  There  are  three  principal  methods 
which  are  patent:  first,  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil 

208 


Photo  by  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture 

PROBABLY    THEY    ARE    TO    DIE    OF    CHOLERA 


HE    THINKS    OK    THE    CATTLE    KEEDIMi    IN    THE    KEHTI 
"The  low  of  rattle  amount.-.!  to  1,7*7.000  ht-a.U  " 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS?  209 

has  been  removed  with  the  crops.  Every  harvest  takes 
from  the  field  a  certain  quantity  of  its  blood.  There 
is  carried  away  with  the  crop,  no  matter  what  it  is, 
more  or  less  of  the  vital  principles  on  which  the  growth 
of  vegetation,  that  is,  of  future  crops,  depends.  There 
are  removed  with  the  crops  certain  quantities  of  phos- 
phoric acid,  potash,  nitrogen  and  lime.  The  ingre- 
dients removed  which  are  principally  of  value  are  the 
first  three  named.  It  follows  that  there  must  be  a 
gradual  impoverishment  of  the  soil,  no  matter  how  rich 
it  may  have  been  originally,  if  this  drain  continues  in- 
definitely. 

NATURE  AVOIDS  BANKBUPTCY. 

It  is  true  that  there  is  present  in  most  soils  large 
quantities  of  phosphoric  acid  and  potash,  which,  if  they 
could  be  unlocked  in  the  proportions  in  which  they  are 
needed,  might  supply  the  wants  of  the  crop  for  a  hun- 
dred or  even  a  thousand  years.  The  greater  part  of 
this  material,  however,  is  locked  up  wisely  by  nature, 
so  that  spendthrift  man  cannot  break  the  bank.  If  na- 
ture had  made  all  its  treasures  of  plant  food  readily 
available,  starvation  would  long  since  have  overtaken 
humanity.  It  is  the  nature  of  man  to  exploit  the  soil 
to  the  last  degree,  hence  it  was  a  wise  invention  of 
nature  to  make  the  soil  self-protective. 

There  is  a  certain  limit  to  what  we  can  get  out  of 
the  soil.  Beyond  that  it  holds  its  treasures  with  a  firm 
grip  and  refuses  to  part  with  them.  Long  years  of  ex- 
perience at  the  Rothamsted  Station  have  shown  that  the 
yield  of  wheat  on  properly  cultivated  soil,  which  will 
produce  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  bushels  per  acre,  rap- 
idly declines  when  crop  after  crop  of  wheat  and  straw 
are  removed  from  the  field  and  nothing  is  returned.  In 


'210  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

the  course  of  fifteen  or  twenty  years  of  such  treatment 
it  is  found  that  the  annual  average  production  of  that 
field  is  reduced  to  about  thirteen  bushels  per  acre,  and 
it  is  not  possible  by  successive  crops  to  reduce  it  any 
further.  In  other  words,  nature  holds  back  from  the 
avaricious  hand  of  man  all  stores  of  plant  food  beyond 
that  necessary  to  produce  a  minimum  crop.  Thus  na- 
ture safeguards  the  future  from  the  rapacity  of  the 
present. 

This  experimental  demonstration  at  Rothamsted  has 
been  verified  by  the  natural  results  of  American  agri- 
culture. The  virgin  fields  of  our  country,  suited  to 
the  production  of  wheat,  yielded  at  first  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty-five  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre.  Now  that 
yield  has  been  cut  down  to  about  thirteen  or  fourteen 
bushels  per  acre,  and  beyond  this,  apart  from  seasonal 
variations,  we  cannot  go.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  up  to 
a  certain  minimum  limit  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  car- 
ried off  by  successive  crops  when  nothing  is  returned. 

This  latter  condition  is  typified  by  many  of  the 
fields  of  this  country  at  the  present  time.  The  vast 
areas  that  produce  wheat  and  corn  have  never  received 
any  fertilizer  up  to  within  the  past  quarter  of  a  century, 
and  it  may  be  said,  even  to-day,  that  in  so  far  as  the  one 
hundred  millions  of  acres  devoted  to  corn  culture  are 
concerned,  a  very  small  percentage  of  this  area  is  ever 
fertilized  either  from  the  stable  or  from  the  factory. 
This,  then,  is  the  road  of  exit  which  a  large  part  of  the 
soil  fertility  has  taken. 

IX)SS    BY   DRAINAGE   AND   EROSION. 

A  second  factor  in  the  loss  of  soil  fertility  is  seen  in 
the  drainage  waters  of  the  country.  When  the  surface 
of  the  soil  was  covered  by  forests  and  by  prairie,  the 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS?  211 

protection  afforded  secured  freedom  from  very  great 
losses  by  drainage;  but  when  these  protective  covers 
were  removed,  the  water  which  fell  upon  the  soil  was 
not  held  back  by  the  mechanical  effects  of  the  roots  and 
the  trees  and  the  grasses,  but  either  flowed  off  of  the 
surface  or  rapidly  sunk  into  the  soil.  While  the  in- 
crease of  loss  from  this  source  over  'that  of  natural 
drainage  under  cover  has  not  \>een  great,  it  should  not 
be  lost  sight  of  in  accounting  for  the  depreciation  of 
soil  fertility. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  of  the  losses  in  soil  fertility,  es- 
pecially in  rolling  lands  of  a  texture  which  does  not 
'hold  well  together,  is  that  which  is  produced  by  erosion. 
In  many  large  areas  of  the  United  States  the  soils  are 
so  easily  washed  that  even  on  gently  rolling  lands  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  hold  them  in  place.  As  you  pass 
down  the  Southern  Railway,  you  will  see  on  either  side 
thousands  of  acres  of  terraced  fields.  I  mean  by  this 
that  the  planting  is  done  on  contour  lines,  so  as  to 
keep  the  rows  as  nearly  as  possible  level,  while  an  em- 
bankment is  thrown  up  so  that  the  water  during  a 
shower  cannot  break  over.  It  is  only  in  this  way  that 
the  land  can  be  plowed  and  cultivated  without  wash- 
ing. Here  we  find  an  extreme  type  of  liability  to  loss. 
There  are  probably  no  soils  except  those  which  are  more 
or  less  level  which  do  not  suffer  somewhat  from  erosion 
of  this  kind. 

RECLAMATION    OF   WASHED    SOILS. 

Twenty  years  ago  I  wrote  a  part  of  a  Bulletin,  is- 
sued by  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  on  Washed 
Soils:  How  to  Prevent  and  Reclaim  Them.  In  this 
Bulletin  the  following  statements  are  found: 

"  The    denudation,    or    washing,    of   lands    on    the 


212  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

higher  levels  of  the  earth's  surface  is  a  process  which 
no  human  precaution  can  wholly  prevent.  It  has  been 
one  of  the  most  important  forces  and  factors  in  the  geo- 
logical changes  which  have  so  greatly  modified  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth.  The  present  surface  of  the  largest 
portion  of  the  United  States  is  made  up  of  this  '  sedi- 
mentary '  or  '  drift '  material  which  has  been  moved 
from  the  place  where  it  was  formed  through  the  disin- 
tegration and  decay  of  the  old  crystalline  rocks,  by  wa- 
ter, wind,  or  moving  ice,  and  which  has  accumulated 
to  a  depth  of  hundreds  or  thousands  of  feet  over  nearly 
the  entire  surface  of  the  country.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  general  surface  of  the  land  in  the  area  of  the  crys- 
talline rocks  of  the  Piedmont  Plateau  has  been  low- 
ered at  least  2,000  feet  by  this  continual  washing.  This 
vast  amount  of  material  has  been  slowly  removed  and 
deposited  elsewhere  by  the  very  same  agents  which  we 
are  contending  with  to-day  in  our  gullied  fields;  for 
this  denudation,  or  erosion,  is  still  going  on,  as  it  has 
been  for  ages  past. 

"As  a  rule  this  denudation  is  exceedingly  slow  and 
the  general  level  of  large  tracts  of  country  is  not  low- 
ered more  than  an  inch  or  two  in  a  hundred  years. 
Where  the  change  is  as  slow  as  this  it  is  undoubtedly 
of  benefit  to  the  human  race,  as  in  the  course  of  time  it 
must  carry  off  the  soil  which  has  been  used  over  and 
over  again  for  vegetation  and  expose  fresh  material 
to  the  roots  of  plants.  With  this  slow  change  the  nat- 
ural forces  are  amply  sufficient  for  the  decay  of  the 
subsoil  and  for  the  conversion  of  this  freshly  exposed 
material  into  a  good  soil.  When  the  rate  of  denuda- 
tion is  excessive,  however,  and  more  rapid  than  the 
natural  decay  of  the  subsoil  material  which  is  exposed, 
it  may  work  serious  injury  to  agricultural  lands. 


VIEW    WEST    OF    CHEVY    CHASE,    MARYLAND 

The  fresh  pranite  rock  is  shown  passing  upward  into  material  more  and  more  decom- 
posed until  it  becomes  sufficiently  pulverized  and  soluble  to  support  plant  life.  The 
roots  showing  in  the  upper  part  of  the  picture  formerly  penetrated  the  decomposed  rock, 
but  have  been  exposed  through  grading  operations 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS?  213 

"  Along  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River  and  in  very 
many  portions  of  the  South  hundreds  of  fields  that  were 
once  covered  with  sturdy  forests  of  oak,  maple,  walnut, 
and  pine,  and  which  bore  under  cultivation-,  after  being 
cleared  of  the  natural  growth,  large  crops  of  wheat, 
maize,  tobacco,  and  cotton,  may  now  be  seen  furrowed 
with  gullies  as  with  the  wrinkles  of  age,  and  abandoned 
to  brush  and  briers. 

"  A  surface  layer  of  good  agricultural  soil  6  inches 
deep  resulting  from  the  slow  and  gradual  disintegra- 
tion and  decay  of  rocks  and  accumulation  of  humus 
may  have  required  hundreds  of  years  for  its  natural 
formation,  and  yet  it  is  liable  to  be  washed  away  in  a 
single  storm. 

"  This  excessive  erosion,  or  washing,  of  lands  may  be 
prevented,  and  the  already  gullied  fields  may  be  recov- 
ered, and  steep  slopes  of  loose  material  may  be  held  and 
prevented  from  washing : 

"  (1)  By  chemical  means,  in  the  application  of 
manures  and  fertilizers  and  in  the  accumulation  of 
organic  matter,  which  change  the  texture  of  the  soil 
and  make  it  more  porous  and  more  absorbent  of  water, 
so  that  there  is  less  to  run  off  over  the  surface. 

"  (2)  By  means  of  cultivation  and  underdrainage, 
which  prevent  erosion  by  distributing  the  surface  flow 
over  the  ground  and  increase  the  amount  carried  off 
by  underdrainage. 

"  (3)  By  reforestation,  or  the  planting  of  trees, 
which  act  mechanically  to  prevent  washing. 

"  (4)  By  grass  and  similar  vegetation,  which  bind 
the  soil  grains  and  prevent  their  washing  away. 

"  The  erosion  of  a  soil  is  caused  by  the  wearing  of 
the  rain  and  snow  waters  which  can  not  penetrate  into 
the  soil  fast  enough  to  be  carried  away  by  underdrain- 


214  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

age,  and  which,  by  reason  of  the  slope  or  contour  of  the 
land,  run  off  over  the  surface,  carrying  along  particles 
of  sand  and  clay.  When  this  water  accumulates  in  a 
depression  in  the  field  the  force  of  the  torrent  may  be 
sufficient  to  cut  out  a  great  gully  in  a  short  space  of 
time. 

"  The  extent  of  washing  to  which  the  soil  is  exposed 
depends  upon  the  quantity  of  rainfall  in  a  given  time, 
the  slope  or  contour  of  the  surface,  the  texture  of  the 
soil,  the  vegetative  covering  of  the  surface,  and  the  kind 
and  condition  of  cultivation.  A  soil  composed  chiefly 
of  moderately  coarse  grains  of  sand,  and  having  good 
underdrainage,  will  absorb  the  heaviest  rainfall  without 
much  danger  of  surface  erosion.  A  sandy-clay  soil, 
on  the  other  hand,  into  which  the  water  can  not  perco- 
late with  anything  like  the  rapidity  of  the  precipita- 
tion, will  be  washed  and  gullied  by  the  torrent  of  water 
which  must  flow  over  the  surface. 

CHEMICAL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  SOIL  TO  SURFACE  WASHING. 

"  It  has  been  repeatedly  shown  by  experiments  and 
by  the  experiences  of  farmers  that  a  soil,  as  a  rule, 
absorbs  water  more  readily  as  the  content  of  organic 
matter  and  of  humus  increases.  Surface  erosion  can,, 
therefore,  be  largely  prevented  by  such  a  system  of 
cultivation  and  cropping  as  will  introduce  as  large  a 
quantity  of  organic  matter  into  the  soil  as  possible.  A 
very  old  method  of  recovering  washed  and  gullied  lands 
is  to  place  straw  in  the  furrows  while  plowing,  the 
straw  not  only  acting  mechanically  to  hold  the  soil  in 
place  and  prevent  surface  erosion,  but  also  in  a  very 
efficient  way  to  increase  the  quantity  of  humus,  thus 
making  the  soil  hold  large  quantities  of  water  which 
otherwise  would  have  passed  off  over  the  surface.  In 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS?  215 

this  simple  way  fields  which  have  been  badly  washed 
and  gullied  and  entirely  abandoned  may  be  recovered 
and  made  highly  productive. 

"  The  most  important  thing  in  the  recovery  of  waste 
fields  is  the  incorporation  of  organic  matter  of  some 
kind  in  the  soil;  pea  vines,  stubble,  briers,  or  leaves 
from  the  forest  may  be  used  as  a  source  of  the  organic 
matter.  The  straw  from  one  acre  of  land  which  has 
been  recovered,  as  mentioned  above,  will  be  sufficient 
to  start  the  recovery  of  another  acre,  even  if  this  be 
deeply  furrowed  with  gullies.  Where  enough  organic 
matter  can  be  used  as  a  surface  dressing,  this  layer 
helps  greatly  to  retain  water  and  to  make  the  under- 
lying soil  more  absorbent 

"  As  soon  as  a  sufficient  supply  of  humus  has  been 
accumulated  and  the  lands  are  brought  up  to  an  ade- 
quate condition  of  fertility,  clover  or  grass  should  be 
seeded,  if  the  land  is  at  all  suited  to  these  crops,  or  rye, 
oats,  or  field  peas  should  be  sown  to  help  hold  the  sur- 
face. Little  by  little,  but  more  rapidly  than  would 
be  expected  from  the  forbidding  aspect  of  the  field,  the 
land  can  be  reclaimed  again  and  made  productive 
through  the  accumulation  of  humus  and  organic  matter. 
A  soil  containing  a  fair  quantity  of  humus  will  wash 
less  readily  than  one  nearly  destitute  of  this  mat- 
ter. 

"  A  soil  containing  a  fair  supply  of  lime  is  much 
less  liable  to  wash  than  one  similarly  situated  and  ex- 
posed which  is  deficient  in  lime.  The  reason  of  this 
is  that  clays  which  are  deficient  in  lime,  when  once 
brought  into  suspension  by  moving  waters,  will  remain 
in  suspension  and  keep  the  water  turbid  for  a  long 
time.  Clays  which  are  heavily  impregnated  with  lime 
salts,  on  the  other  hand,  are  in  a  flocculated  state,  the 


216  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

fine  grains  of  clay  being  held  together  and  in  contact 
with  the  larger  grains  of  sand.  This  flocculated  mass 
quickly  settles  and  is  originally  not  so  easily  disturbed 
and  carried  off  by  moving  water.  A  field  treated  with 
an  abundance  of  lime  is  thus  less  easily  washed  by 
heavy  rains.  The  results  of  investigations  by  Schulze, 
Schloesing,  and  Hilgard  have  shown  in  a  most  emphatic 
way  the  beneficial  changes  which  take  place,  especially 
in  stiff  clay  soils,  by  the  application  of  lime. 

EFFECT    OF    LIME    ON    PHYSICAL    CONDITION. 

"  The  change  in  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil 
which  is  produced  by  the  lime,  and  which  is  likewise 
produced  by  a  number  of  other  chemicals  ordinarily 
used  in  commercial  fertilizers,  is  another  important 
factor  worthy  of  consideration.  A  stiff  clay  soil  is 
practically  impervious  to  the  penetration  of  surface 
•water  when  it  is  delivered  in  such  torrents  as  we  are 
liable  to  have  in  our  summer  storms.  A  well-limed 
soil,  on  the  contrary,  although  it  may  contain  as  much 
clay  but  in  which  the  particles  are  flocculated  or  drawn 
together,  is  much  more  pervious  to  water,  and  the 
amount  of  water  which  the  soil  will  carry  down  through 
under-drainage  is  increased,  and  the  excess  which  has 
to  flow  off  over  the  surface  is  diminished.  The  surface 
washing  of  cultivated  fields,  especially  those  which  are 
naturally  deficient  in  lime,  can  be  greatly  diminished, 
therefore,  by  the  free  application  of  this  substance  to 
them. 

"  A  number  of  the  ordinary  fertilizing  materials 
have  an  important  effect  upon  the  texture  of  soils  and 
upon  the  permeability  of  soils  to  water,  but  few  sys- 
tematic investigations  have  been  carried  on  in  this  line 
and  not  much,  except  of  local  importance,  has  been 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS!  217 

definitely  settled  by  experiments  or  by  the  experiences 
of  farmers." 

Thus,  by  the  removal  of  crops  for  which  no  restitu- 
tion has  been  made,  by  the  leaching  of  the  soil  and 
dissolving  the  soluble  salts  therefrom,  and  by  the  ero- 
sion and  translation  of  the  soil  into  localities  where  it 
can  no  longer  be  reached  by  the  plow,  millions  of  acres 
of  once  fertile  soil  have  been  reduced  to  a  pitiable 
degree  of  poverty.  As  long  as  new  land  was  available 
to  the  American  farmer,  he  gave  little  attention  to  the 
problem  of  conserving  soil  fertility  and  the  various 
means  of  restoring  it  It  was  far  cheaper  for  him  to 
abandon  his  worn-out  fields  and  journey  to  new  regions 
where  the  land  was  still  virgin  and  contained  all  the 
accumulated  fertility  of  the  ages. 

THE  NEGLECT  AND  INDIFFERENCE  OF  THE  FARMER. 

Fortunately  for  American  agriculture  that  day  has 
passed,  and  we  now  are  face  to  face  with  the  problem 
of  increasing  soil  fertility  since  there  is  no  great  pos- 
sibility of  increasing  the  area  of  arable  land.  What 
are  the  means  by  which  this  restoration  can  be  made? 
They  are  perfectly  simple.  First  of  all,  stop  the 
sources  of  depletion.  Feed  your  field  at  least  as  much 
as  you  take  from  it  Second,  stop  the  useless  leaching. 
This  can  be  done  by  proper  cover  crops  and  deep  plow- 
ing, which  will  hold  the  soil  water  and  prevent  it  from 
leaching.  Third,  stop  erosion.  This  is  largely  a  me- 
chanical process  at  first,  but  must  be  supplemented  by 
a  series  of  grasses  or  reforestations,  which  will  pro- 
tect from  further  waste. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  active  in  a  practical 
application  of  some  of  these  principles  while  still  a 
young  man,  and  before  the  ideas  of  scientific  agricul- 


218          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

ture  had  become  commonly  distributed.  My  father's 
farm  was  in  the  hills  near  the  Ohio  Kiver.  The  land 
was  originally  very  fertile.  It  was  underlaid  with 
lime-stone  and  covered  with  a  growth  of  maple,  walnut, 
and  poplar  (tulip)  trees.  The  walnuts  and  the  poplars 
grew  to  great  size  and  were  the  worst  enemies  of  the 
intending  farmer.  They  were  valueless  for  lumber,  of 
which  there  was  already  a  surplus  of  supply,  and  hence 
thousands  of  these  magnificent  trees  were  deadened, 
cut  down  and  burned,  to  get  them  out  of  the  way  of 
the  plow.  Soon  after  signs  of  danger  were  manifested. 
Deep  gullies  were  cut  in  the  hillside.  These  were 
filled  in  and  washed  over  and  plowed  out  from  year  to 
year,  until  finally  all  of  the  surface  soil  was  gone. 
The  sub-soil  was  much  less  fertile  and  even  more  prone 
to  wash.  Consequently,  in  a  few  years,  not  more  than 
fifteen  or  twenty  at  most,  a  great  number  of  the  cleared 
fields  were  reduced  to  poverty  and  the  crops  fell  to  a 
minimum. 

EARLY   EXPERIMENT   IN    REFORESTATION. 

Directly  in  front  of  the  house  was  a  hillside  which 
had  been  so  worn  by  erosion  that  it  was  no  longer 
plowed.  It  was  left  as  a  bad  spot  on  the  landscape, 
which  offended  the  eye  and  indicated  an  unscientific 
method  of  agriculture.  So  much  of  the  soil  had  been 
washed  off  that  even  grass  would  not  grow  on  what  was 
left.  Only  briers  and  a  few  weeds  could  survive. 
Knowing  nothing  of  the  principles  of  scientific  forestry, 
I  got  my  father's  permission  to  re-forest  this  area. 
There  were  only  about  two  acres  of  it,  but  it  was  suf- 
ficient for  an  experiment.  I  planted  several  hundred 
young  locust  trees,  of  which  there  was  an  abundant 
supply  in  the  country,  as  carefully  as  I  could  along  the 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS?  219 

better  and  richer  portions  of  the  remaining  soil.  For- 
tunately a  hundred  or  more  of  these  lived  and  began 
to  grow  vigorously.  Soon  other  plants  began  to  come 
up  from  the  roots,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
the  whole  surface  was  covered  by  a  beautiful  growth 
of  young  locusts.  Now,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than 
forty  years,  this  abandoned  hillside  is  not  only  a  beau- 
tiful spot  in  the  landscape,  but  also  supplies  fence  posts 
for  the  whole  farm  and  yields  a  larger  income  accord- 
ing to  its  area  than  any  other  portion  of  the  farm.  A 
considerable  part  of  it  has  also  been  naturally  seeded 
to  maple. 

If  the  farmers'  boys  throughout  the  United  States 
on  all  farms  where  erosion  has  played  its  game  would 
undertake  a  reforestation  in  this  direction,  incal- 
culable benefit  would  JDC  derived  therefrom.  But  it  is 
not  necessary  to  abandon  the  cultivation  of  such  eroded 
areas.  The  contour  system  of  cropping  will  usually 
save  them  for  use.  It  is  true,  it  requires  some  labor 
to  lay  out  the  lines  of  level  and  build  the  little  embank- 
ments. This,  however,  can  be  very  well  done  by\  the 
plow.  A  considerable  part  of  the  area  is  unavoidably 
wasted  for  arable  purposes,  as  the  embankments  cannot 
be  plowed  up.  But  on  the  whole  it  pays  either  to  re- 
forest these  denuded  areas  or  to  cultivate  them  on  the 
contour  principle.  This  process  is  now  in  use  in  parts 
of  the  country,  and  decided  progress  has  been  made  in 
recovering  the  soil  from  the  effects  of  erosion  and  pro- 
tecting it  against  further  injury. 

QUANTITY   OP   SOIL    CAREIED. 

It  is  of  course  impossible  to  do  more  than  estimate 
the  quantities  of  soil  which  are  carried  from  the  sur- 
face of  the  fields  and  forests  and  emptied  into  the 


220  THE  LUKE  OF  THE  LAND 

running  streams.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  esti- 
mate the  quantities  of  silt  carried  in  some  of  the  great 
rivers.  The  Geological  Survey  has  made  a  number  of 
estimates  of  this,  kind,  and  has  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  quantity  of  silt  carried  by  the  Hudson  River 
is  240,000  tons  a  year;  by  the  Susquehanna,  240,000 
tons ;  by  the  Roanoke,  3,000,000  tons ;  by  the  Alabama, 
3,000,000  tons;  by  the  Tennessee,  11,000,000  tons;  and 
by  the  Missouri,  176,000,000  tons. 

In  the  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
for  1913,  Mr.  Davis  gives  an  estimate  of  the  losses 
which  occur  to  agriculture  from  erosion  of  the  soils. 
He  says: 

It  has  been  estimated  that  the  Mississippi  River,  which 
drains  over  one-third  of  the  area  of  the  United  States,  delivers 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  from  370  to  680  million  tons  of  sus- 
pended material  yearly.  Accepting  the  lower  figure  and  as- 
suming a  lower  rate  for  the  rest  of  the  United  States  (500 
million  tons),  the  total  amount  of  soil  material  carried  to  the 
seas  amounts  to  870  million  tons  a  year.  Assuming  that  one- 
half  of  this  is  unnecessary  waste,  there  is  an  annual  loss  of 
over  400  million  tons  of  soil  material.  This  means  a  prevent- 
able waste  yearly  of  more  material  than  was  removed  in  dig- 
ging the  Panama  Canal.  But  this  is  only  part  of  the  story, 
for  only  a  small  portion  of  the  soil  brought  down  from  the 
hills  is  carried  to  the  mouths  of  the  rivers.  What  proportion 
it  is  impossible  to  estimate.  .  .  . 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  this  loss  may  be  gained  from  the 
fact  that  the  National  Conservation  Conference  in  1909  re- 
ported nearly  eleven  million  acres  of  abandoned  farm  land 
in  the  United  States,  most  of  it  damaged  and  over  one-third 
or  about  four  million  acres  actually  destroyed  by  erosion.  At 
an  average  original  value  of  $10,  the  loss  amounts  to  $40,000,- 
000.  The  loss  from  non-production  is  probably  as  much 
yearly.  Added  to  this  the  losses  to  navigation  and  water 
power  and  the  expense  of  keeping  open  channels  will  almost 
double  the  amount,  so  that  annually  the  United  States  is  suf- 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OP  OUR  SOILS?  221 

fering  the  loss  of  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  million  dollars 
through  the  agency  of  erosion. 

FACTORS    DETERMINING    EROSION. 

A  remarkable  study  of  soil  erosion  has  been  made 
by  the  late  Dr.  W.  J.  McGee,  who  was  an  expert  in 
charge  of  soil  water  investigations  of  the  Bureau  of 
Soils.  According  to  McGee's  conclusions  the  amount 
of  erosion  which  takes  place  in  any  locality  is  deter- 
mined by  a  number  of  factors.  First  of  all  the  quan- 
tity of  precipitation  is  an  important  factor,  but  not 
quite  so  important  as  the  exaggerations  of  precipita- 
tion. A  rainfall  of  forty  inches  a  year  which  is  dis- 
tributed evenly  throughout  every  month,  being  a  little 
over  three  inches  per  month,  and  this  distributed  evenly 
throughout  the  month,  might  produce  no  erosion  at  all ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  a  rainfall  of  fifteen  inches 
a  year  which  should  come  all  at  once,  or  within  a  short 
period,  would  produce  very  decided  erosive  effects. 

Aside  from  the  amount  and  distribution  of  the  rain- 
fall, the  contour  of  the  land  and  the  texture  of  the  soil 
are  important  controlling  factors.  In  land  that  is 
practically  level  erosion  is  reduced  to  a  minimum ;  the 
more  hilly  the  land,  the  greater  the  erosion,  other  things 
being  equal.  A  soil  that  is  tenacious,  contains  plenty 
of  lime,  and  at  the  same  time  porous,  is  least  subject 
to  erosion ;  while  a  soil  that  is  sandy,  devoid  of  humus, 
and  containing  little  lime,  is  most  prone  to  erosion. 

McGee  calls  attention  to  the  amount  of  precipitation 
in  the  United  States.  In  the  mainland  of  the  United 
States,  exclusive  of  Alaska  and  the  insular  possessions, 
the  mean  annual  rainfall,  as  shown  by  the  reports  of 
the  Weather  Bureau,  averages  about  thirty  inches.  The 
total  quantity  of  water  precipitated  amounts  to  215,- 


222  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

000,000  cubic  feet.  It  is  estimated  that  this  is  equiv- 
alent in  volume  to  ten  Mississippi  Rivers  running  con- 
stantly. 

FRUIT  OB,  NUT  BEARING  TREES  IN  REFORESTATION. 

Professor  J.  Russell  Smith,  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  has  made  a  careful  study  of  soil 
erosion  in  this  and  other  countries,  is  of  the  opinion 
that  of  all  the  means  proposed  for  controlling  soil  ero- 
sion, including  the  terracing  of  the  fields,  deep  plowing, 
pasture,  grass  crops,  et  cetera,  the  most  important  and 
effective  is  reforestation  of  some  kind.  The  growing 
of  ordinary  forest  trees,  which  are  valuable  only  for 
their  timber,  postpones  to  so  remote  a  date  any  income 
that  the  ordinary  farmer  is  slow  to  consider  the  merits 
of  the  proposition. 

As  I  have  already  pointed  out,  there  are  certain 
kinds  of  trees,  like  the  locust,  which  will  be  available 
for  fencing  in  perhaps  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  Lum- 
ber trees,  however,  such  as  the  tulip  or  poplar  tree, 
and  the  oak,  require  even  a  longer  period  before  the 
beginning  of  their  harvest.  Other  kinds  of  lumber 
trees,  such  as  the  pine,  require  still  longer  time.  Pro- 
fessor Smith  is  of  the  opinion,  therefore,  that  the  re- 
forestation should  be  accomplished  by  the  means  of 
crop-producing  trees.  Among  these  first  of  all  is  the 
fruit  tree.  The  orchard,  however,  is  hardly  possible  on 
land  already  denuded  and  in  which  erosion  takes  place 
on  the  smallest  provocation.  There  is  not  much  of  the 
eroded  soil  of  the  United  States  which  can  be  planted 
to  the  tree  which  Professor  Smith  considers  to  be  the 
king  of  all  crops,  namely,  the  date  tree. 

He  recommends  as  a  suitable  covering  for  soil  sub- 
ject to  erosion  what  he  calls  tree  forage.  He  finds 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS?  223; 

forage  tree  crops  are  extensively  cultivated  in  Europe, 
Africa  and  Hawaii.  The  carob  and  mesquite  bean  he 
regards  as  a  substitute  for  bran  and  corn  meal,  and  the 
yields  of  these  crops  are,  according  to  Professor  Smith, 
"  almost  staggering  in  their  significance."  He  states 
that  mesquite  forests  on  rough,  untilled  and  untillable 
land  are  producing  from  four  to  ten  tons  of  beans  per 
acre  and  the  bean  meal  sells  at  $25  a  ton.  Among  the 
trees  which  are  available  for  this  kind  of  a  crop  he  calls 
the  ho*ney  locust  in  the  East  a  counterpart  of  the  mes- 
quite in  the  West. 

The  utilization  of  oak  and  hickory  trees  for  the  pro- 
duction of  mast,  that  is,  acorns  and  nuts,  well  suited 
to  the  fattening  of  pork,  has  been  known  since  this 
country  has  been  settled.  In  addition  to  these  the 
beech  tree  of  Kentucky  and  southern  Indiana  is  a 
fine  mast-producing  tree.  It  requires,  however,  from 
twenty  to  fifty  years  to  produce  an  oak,  hickory  or 
beech  tree  of  sufficient  size  to  produce  enough  nuts  for 
commercial  purposes.  In  addition  to  these  Professor 
Smith  suggests  the  fig  and  the  mulberry  trees. 

THE   PECAN    TREE. 

The  most  promising  of  the  trees  suggested  as  tree 
crops  are  the  pecan,  the  walnut,  the  almond,  the  filbert 
and  the  hazelnut  The  chestnut  not  only  produces  a 
considerable  quantity  of  oil,  but  also  a  large  quantity 
of  starch,  so  that  the  chestnut  is  almost  a  bread-pro- 
ducing nut  This  form  of  tree  crop  is  to  be  recom- 
mended especially  because  it  produces  its  fruit  within 
a  few  years.  If  the  cultivated  chestnut  be  grafted 
onto  the  native  stalks,  paying  crops  can  be  expected  in 
from  three  to  five  years.  Just  at  this  moment,  how- 
ever, there  is  a  threatening  pest  which  bids  fair  to 


224  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

destroy  the  chestnut  groves  of  the  United  States, 
namely,  the  chestnut  blight,  which,  taking  its  origin  in 
the  northeast,  has  already  reached  northern  Virginia. 

It  is  possible  that  the  artificial  planting  of  many  of 
these  valuable  trees,  especially  the  leguminous  vari- 
eties, such  as  the  locust,  might  be  interspersed  with  the 
terracing  of  the  surface  so  that  the  two  might  work  to- 
gether for  holding  the  soils.  The  locust  enriches  the 
soil  where  it  grows  by  increasing  its  store  of  nitrogen. 
The  new  embankment  of  the  terrace  might,  therefore, 
be  planted  with  rows  of  locust  trees,  which  permit 
cultivated  crops  to  be  grown  close  up  to  their  trunks. 

All  of  these  methods  of  restraining  the  action  of 
water  naturally  tend  to  hold  the  water  in  the  locality 
where  it  falls,  and  thus  to  increase  the  amount  avail- 
able a^s  soil  moisture  for  crop  growth.  It  would  of 
course  be  disastrous  if  water  could  be  so  held  that  it 
never  would  percolate.  The  soluble  materials  which 
come  from  the  decay  of  rocks  in  the  form  of  alkaline 
compounds  would  so  increase,  if  there  were  no  under- 
drainage,  as  to  produce  everywhere  in  the  course  of 
many  years  that  condition  which  is  called  alkaline,  and 
which  in  excess  is  so  fatal  to  plant  growth.  It  appears, 
therefore,  that  among  the  various  methods  which  have 
been  recommended  for  the  control  of  soil  erosion,  espe- 
cial attention  should  be  paid  to  reforestation  in  gen- 
eral or  to  reforestation  with  crop-producing  trees  in 
particular. 

But  this  is  not  sufficient.  Restitution  must  be  made 
for  the  robbery  of  the  past.  If  the  land  has  been  re- 
duced to  the  very  lowest  degree  of  penury,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  purchase,  in  order  to  begin  its  restoration, 
additional  quantities  of  phosphoric  acid,  potash  and 
nitrogen.  With  this  purchase  of  plant  foods  a  new 


WHAT  IS  BECOMING  OF  OUR  SOILS?  225 

growth  of  crops  can  be  instituted,  and  with  a  judicious 
addition  of  lime,  clover  and  other  leguminous  crops 
can  be  made  to  grow  and  thus  furnish  one  of  the  most 
expensive  of  the  elements  of  the  fertilizing  materials, 
namely,  nitrogen,  in  a  state  suitable  for  plant  life. 
There  is  no  reason,  therefore,  to  despair  of  agriculture 
because  of  the  improper  method  by  which  it  has  been 
conducted  in  the  past  years.  Every  person  who  en- 
gages in  that  honorable  profession  at  the  present  time 
should  be  imbued  with  the  idea  that  he  has  come  into 
the  presence  of  wrongs  which  are  to  be  righted.  Besti- 
tution  must  be  made.  The  land  must  be  respected. 
It  must  be  restored  to  its  pristine  fertility. 


XXII 

THE  FERTILITY  OF  THE  SOIL 

THERE  is  no  problem  of  greater  importance  to  the 
prospective  farmer  than  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 
The  idea  conveyed  by  the  above  expression  is  extremely 
indefinite  to  most  persons.  It  is  generally  known  that 
the  crops  vary  from  year  to  year  and  from  field  to  field. 
The  causes  of  this  variation  are  well  known  in  many 
respects.  They  are  largely  seasonal.  The  amount 
and  distribution  of  the  rainfall,  the  amount  and  dis- 
tribution of  heat,  and  the  amount  and  distribution  of 
light,  are  very  potent  factors  in  vegetable  growth.  If 
the  farmer  could  have  available  three  inches  of  water 
per  month  for  the  growing  months  of  May,  June,  July 
and  August,  he  would  need  only  a  foot  of  rainfall  to 
produce  a  magnificent  crop.  Unfortunately  for  the 
farmer,  he  does  not  control  the  natural  distribution  of 
water.  In  this  respect  the  irrigation  farmer  has  a 
great  advantage,  and  thus  the  magnitude  of  the  crop 
under  irrigation  can  be  foretold  with  a  great  deal  of  cer- 
tainty. 

WHAT    IS    FERTILITY? 

Aside  from  the  seasonal  variations  of  water,  heat 
and  light,  there  are  other  causes  which  control  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  crop.  These  causes  are  grouped  together 
under  the  term  "  fertility."  To  describe  fertility  in  a 
single  phrase  is  rather  difficult,  but  not  impossible. 

226 


I 
THE  FERTILITY  OF  THE  SOIL  227 

From  my  point  of  view  fertility,  seasonal  variations 
eliminated,  is  the  measure  of  the  ability  of  the  soil  to 
feed  a  growing  crop.  This  ability  rests  upon  two  fun- 
damental conditions:  First,  porosity  of  the  soil,  by 
means  of  which  the  roots  can  go  out  after  their  food; 
and  second,  the  amount  of  food  available. 

It  is  well  known  that  plants  live  chiefly  on  inorganic 
materials,  consisting  mostly  of  compounds  of  potassium, 
phosphorus  and  nitrogen.  There  are,  indeed,  other  es- 
sential food  elements,  such  as  lime,  iron,  magnesia,  et 
cetera,  but  as  a  rule  these,  with  the  exception  of  lime, 
are  always  present  in  much  greater  quantity  than  is 
needed  in  tillable  soils.  The  compounds  of  phosphorus, 
potash  and  nitrogen,  may  be  locked  up  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  inaccessible  for  the  food  requirements  of  the 
plant.  The  usual  form  of  the  phosphorus  compound  in 
the  soil  is  its  union  with  lime,  forming  phosphate  of 
lime.  Phosphate  of  lime  in  its  natural  state  is  quite 
insoluble  in  the  soil  waters,  and  hence  the  mere  pres- 
ence of  phosphoric  acid  in  combination  with  lime  is  not 
always  a  proper  guarantee  for  a  supply  for  the  growing 
plant 

The  same  is  true  of  potash,  and  to  a  less  degree  of 
nitrogen.  Many  nitrogenous  compounds  exist  in  the 
soil  in  an  undecomposed,  organic  state,  in  which  condi- 
tion they  are  useless  as  plant  foods.  These  nitroge- 
nous compounds  must  be  broken  down  under  the  influ- 
ence of  bacterial  action,  and  the  nitrogen  converted  into 
nitric  acid  by  a  series  of  ferments  which  are  capable  of 
producing  nitric  acid  from  the  organic  matters  con- 
taining the  nitrogen.  It  is  only  in  the  form  of  nitric 
acid  that  nitrogen  reaches  its  full  measure  of  ability 
in  the  nourishing  of  plants.  The  potassium  may  exist 
in  the  soil  as  one  of  the  components  of  granite  or 


228  THE  LURE  OP  THE  LAND 

feldspar,  and  in  this  condition  be  wholly  inaccessible 
for  food  purposes.  These  compounds  must  be  broken 
down  and  the  potash  liberated  before  its  maximum  of 
utility  is  obtainable.  Potash  is  especially  useful  in 
growing  root  crops  such  as  potatoes,  and  in  many  soils, 
such  as  the  blue  grass  region  of  Kentucky,  adds  greatly 
to  the  yield  of  Indian  corn. 

IMPORTANCE   OF    HUMUS. 

Another  thing  which  a  fertile  soil  requires  is  a  lot 
of  decaying  organic  matter,  known  as  humus.  In  the 
decay  of  organic  matter  not  only  is  nitric  acid  formed 
from  the  protein  which  is  present  in  the  material,  but 
also  the  salts  of  potash  and  phosphoric  acid  which  are 
present  in  the  organic  materials  are  set  free  in  a  form 
suitable  for  plant  nutrition.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
presence  of  the  decaying  organic  matter  known  as  humus 
profoundly  modifies  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil, 
rendering  it  more  porous,  more  retentive  of  moisture, 
and  more  easily  cultivated. 

To  supplement  any  deficiency  in  plant  foods,  manures 
and  fertilizers  are  to  be  freely  used.  The  common  un- 
derstanding of  the  difference  between  these  bodies  is 
that  a  manure  is  something  produced  on  the  farm, 
principally  by  the  farm  animals,  while  a  fertilizer  is  a 
manufactured  article  sent  from  the  centers  of  manu- 
facture for  the  use  of  farmers.  High-grade  fertilizers 
containing  4  or  5  per  cent,  of  potash,  2  to  4  per  cent, 
of  nitrogen-bearing  materials,  and  8  to  12  per  cent,  of 
available  phosphoric  acid,  are  applied  to  soils  in  large 
quantities  in  order  to  furnish  materials  for  vigorous 
plant  growth.  The  fertility  of  the  soil,  therefore,  is 
simply  its  feeding  ability.  The  difference  between  a 
poor  soil  in  this  respect  and  a  rich  one  is  that  which  is 


I'HOK.    E.    W.     Illli,  Mill 
Dran  of  .\Kririiltiiral  c  -linnM*  in  tin-  I'nitril  -l.it. 


THE  FERTILITY  OF  THE  SOIL  229 

found  between  the  larder  of  poverty  and  the  larder  of 
wealth.  It  is  not  even  a  question  of  age.  Some  of  the 
old  fields  on  my  farm  are  not  too  poor  to  grow  luxuriant 
oats  on  which  a  carelessly  tossed  hat  finds  a  safe  resting 
place.  This  is  the  simple  statement  of  facts  established 
by  experience  and  investigation  of  the  ages,  and  es- 
pecially of  modern  scientific  discoveries. 

THE    BUBEAU   OF    SOILS. 

Various  collateral  theories  have  been  urged  in  regard 
to  soil  fertility  by  many  different  investigators.  The 
Bureau  of  Soils,  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 
some  twenty  years  ago  advanced  the  theory  +  hat  all  soils 
without  distinction  contain  an  abundant  quantity  of 
plant  foods,  and  the  soil  solution  must  necessarily  be- 
come saturated  with  these  constituents  to  the  same  de- 
gree of  concentration  in  all  soils,  irrespective  of  the 
amounts  of  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  there  may  be 
present.  In  speaking  of  this  theory  Mr.  Alfred  Daniel 
Hall,  of  the  Rothamsted  Experimental  Station,  makes 
the  following  observation : 

Little  as  this  view  would  seem  to  square  with  our  experi- 
ence of  the  effects  of  phosphatic  and  potassic  fertilizers  on  par- 
ticular soils,  the  theory  of  a  soil  solution  of  constant  composi- 
tion must  be  valid  if  the  conditions  existing  in  the  soil  are 
such  as  postulated. 

This  theory  of  soil  fertility  is  not  accepted  by  soil 
specialists  such  as  King,  Hilgard,  Hall,  Hopkins,  nor 
by  any  great  number  of  agricultural  chemists. 

In  addition  to  the  above  theory  the  Bureau  of  Soils 
has  advanced  the  theory  that  lack  of  fertility  in  the 
soil  is  due  largely  to  the  residual  toxic  substances  which 
are  left  in  the  soil  from  previous  growth,  and  hence 


230          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

that  a  neutralization  of  these  toxic  substances  by  proper 
antidotes  is  sufficient  to  restore  the  soil  to  its  pristine 
fertility.  This  theory  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils  has  not 
gained  a  much  wider  vogue  than  the  original  one  in  re- 
gard to  the  sufficiency  of  all  soils  to  supply  the  phos- 
phoric acid  and  potash  necessary  for  growth.  This 
theory  was  also  experimentally  tested  by  Hall,  and  as 
a  result  of  the  investigations  in  both  lines  of  study  the 
following  conclusions  were  drawn: 

(1)  The  composition  of  the  natural  soil  solution  as  regards 
phosphoric  acid  and  potash  is  not  constant,  but  varies  signif- 
icantly in  accord  with  the  composition  of  the  soil  and  its  past 
manurial  history. 

(2)  Within   wide   limits   the   rate   of   growth   of   a   plant 
varies  with  the  concentration  of  the  nutritive  solution,  irre- 
spective of  the  total  amount  of  plant  food  available. 

(3)  When  other  conditions,  such  as  the  supply  of  nitrogen, 
water,  and  air,  are  equal,  the  growth  of  the  crop  will  be  de- 
termined by  the  concentration  of  the  soil  solution  in  phos- 
phoric acid  and  potash  which,  in  its  turn,  is  determined  by  the 
amount  of  these  substances  in  the  soil,  their  state  of  combina- 
tion, and  the  fertilizer  supplied. 

(4)  On  normal  cultivated  soils  the  growth  of  crops  like 
wheat  and  barley,  even  when  repeated  for  60  years  in  succes- 
sion, does  not  leave  behind  in  the  soil  specific  toxic  substances 
which  have  an  injurious  effect  upon  the  growth  of  the  same  or 
other  plants  in  that  soil. 

The  net  result  of  these  investigations  is  to  restore  the 
earlier  theory  of  the  direct  nutrition  of  the  plant  by  fertiliz- 
ers. The  composition  of  the  soil  solution  which  determines  the 
growth  of  the  plant  is  dependent  upon  the  amount  and  the 
mode  of  combination  of  the  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  in  the 
soil,  both  of  which  are  affected  by  the  fertilizer  supply, 
though  to  what  extent  is  not  yet  determinable. 

It  is  evident  that  the  consensus  of  scientific  opinion 
supports  the  results  of  Mr.  Hall's  investigations,  and 
therefore  any  failure  of  a  soil  to  produce  a  crop,  aside 


THE  FERTILITY  OF  THE  SOIL  231 

from  seasonal  variations,  must  still  be  regarded  to  de- 
pend solely  upon  its  physical  state  and  upon  the  quan- 
tity of  plant  foods  which  the  soil  contains  available  for 
nutritive  purposes.  Thus  the  common  practice,  which 
has  been  so  justified  by  experience,  of  heavily  manur- 
ing the  soils  and  adding  the  special  forms  of  commer- 
cial fertilizers  necessary  to  supply  any  deficiency,  is 
the  only  method  by  means  of  which  abundant  crops  can 
be  produced  in  imperfect  soils. 

HUMUS  AS  A  MEASURE   OF  FEBTLLITY. 

The  indeterminate  position  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils 
regarding  soil  fertility  is  still  further  illustrated  by  a 
recent  publication  under  date  of  May  6,  1914,  in  which, 
in  tabular  form,  are  given  the  yields  on  soils  varying  in 
their  percentage  of  humus.  In  North  Carolina,  where 
the  percentage  of  humus  in  the  soil  is  given  as  1^  per 
cent.,  the  yield  of  corn  in  bushels  per  acre  is  given  as 
20.  In  Virginia,  with  the  humus  content  of  the  soil 
21/4  per  cent.,  the  yield  is  given  at  30  bushels.  In 
Ohio  and  Illinois,  with  a  humus  content  of  5  per  cent, 
in  the  soil,  the  yield  is  given  at  from  45  to  50  bushels. 

There  are  two  or  three  uncertain  factors  in  regard 
to  this  case.  First,  there  are  no  extensive  data  com- 
piled by  the  Census  Office  of  the  yields  of  corn  classi- 
fied as  to  the  content  of  humus  in  the  soils.  In  the 
second  place,  the  content  of  humus  in  a  soil  is  due 
largely  to  its  fertility,  and  the  fertility  is  not  due  pri- 
marily to  the  content  of  humus.  The  puzzling  non- 
sequential reasoning  of  the  officials  is  accentuated  by 
the  following  statement :  "  The  striking  correlation 
between  the  per  cent,  of  vegetable  matter  in  the  soil 
and  the  yield  of  corn  in  these  areas  investigated  is  an- 
other strong  link  in  the  chain  of  evidence  that  organic 


232  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

or  vegetable  matter  in  the  soil  is  the  most  effective  fac- 
tor in  soil  fertility."  The  answer  to  this  is  that  a  most 
luxuriant  crop  can  be  grown  in  pure  sand  with  mineral 
fertilizers  and  not  a  trace  of  humus. 

The  changing  attitudes  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils  on 
soil  fertility  are  represented  as  follows:  A.  All  soils 
have  sufficient  plant  food  for  the  production  of  crops 
indefinitely.  B.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  is  affected  by 
toxic  principles  left  in  the  soil  from  previous  crops.  C. 
The  fertility  of  the  soil  depends  chiefly  upon  its  physi- 
cal state,  and  the  function  of  applied  fertilizers  is  not 
one  of  nutrition,  but  one  of  modification  of  physical 
character.  D.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  depends  chiefly 
upon  the  amount  of  vegetable  matter  it  contains. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  near  future  the  Bureau 
of  Soils  will  reach  the  conclusion  which  is  now  held  by 
all  prominent  scientific  investigators  in  the  world, 
namely,  that  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  dependent  upon 
its  ability  to  feed  the  crop.  All  factors  which  affect 
that  ability  are  factors  in  soil  fertility. 

INCREASING   NITROGENOUS    FERTILIZERS. 

In  regard  to  the  nitrogenous  constituents  of  the  soil, 
however,  happily  a  discovery  has  been  made  which 
means  much  to  scientific  agriculture,  namely,  the  fact 
that  a  certain  family  of  plants,  the  leguminous  family, 
of  which  the  pea,  the  bean,  clover  and  locust  trees, 
are  types,  has  the  remarkable  faculty  of  assimilating 
atmospheric  nitrogen  and  converting  it  into  nitric  acid 
in  a  form  suitable  for  plant  nutrition.  This  remark- 
able phenomenon  is  due  to  the  fact  of  bacterial  action. 
The  nitrifying  bacteria  live  in  connection  with  the 
plant  itself,  being  parasites  upon  the  plant  roots,  and 
in  this  symbiotic  activity  seem  capable  of  directly  oxi- 


THE  FERTILITY  OF  THE  SOIL  233 

dizing  atmospheric  nitrogen  and  thus  increasing  in  the 
soil  the  stores  of  available  nitrogenous  foods  for  plants. 
This  discovery,  so  important  to  agriculture,  is  all 
the  more  to  be  prized  because  in  the  purchase  of  com- 
mercial fertilizers  those  containing  available  nitrogen 
are  the  highest  priced.  The  cost  of  phosphoric  acid 
and  potash  is  comparatively  low  when  considered  in 
connection  with  the  cost  of  nitric  acid  or  nitrate  of  soda, 
the  form  in  which,  as  Chile  saltpeter,  the  available 
nitrogen  of  commercial  fertilizers  is  chiefly  furnished. 
The  farmer  who  wishes,  therefore,  to  increase  the  fer- 
tility of  his  soils,  may  well  begin  on  this  theory,  namely, 
the  great  majority  of  soils  of  the  United  States  are  es- 
sentially acid,  being  composed  largely  of  silica  or  silicic 
acid.  Further,  when  soils  have  been  long  in  cultiva- 
tion their  acidity  undoubtedly  increases,  due  to  the  de- 
velopment of  acids  from  the  decay  of  organic  matter 
and  the  removal  of  bases  from  the  soil  for  the  purposes 
of  plant  growth. 

BENEFITS    OF   LIME. 

These  old  acid  soils  no  longer  are  capable  of  produc- 
ing leguminous  crops,  but  when  they  are  treated  with 
lime  they  again,  under  proper  conditions,  grow  abun- 
dant crops  of  clover,  alfalfa,  cowpeas,  and  other  legu- 
minous plants.  By  plowing  these  crops  under  when 
near  maturity,  not  only  is  an  abundance  of  available 
nitrogen  returned  to  the  soil,  but  also  large  quantities 
of  humus,  which  improve  the  physical  condition  of  the 
fields.  The  fanner  thus  needs  only  to  buy  the  cheaper 
potash  and  phosphoric  acid  salts  in  order  to  restore  his 
fields  to  the  maximum  of  fertility.  It  may  be  possible 
to  find  supplies  of  potash  in  the  United  States.  All 
other  kinds  of  fertilizer  we  have. 


234  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

A  NEW  DISCOVEBY  BUT  NOT  A  NEW  IDEA. 

The  discovery  of  the  value  of  the  leguminous  crops 
as  fertilizers,  and  the  method  especially  by  means  of 
which  their  fertilizing  properties  are  made  possible,  is 
supposed  to  be  of  modern  origin.  This  is  true  in  so  far 
as  the  activity  of  certain  nitrifying  organisms  which 
have  a  symbiotic  life  with  the  legumes  themselves  is 
concerned.  The  underlying  idea,  however,  is  fully  set 
forth  by  John  Taylor,  who  almost  a  hundred  years  ago 
published  an  agricultural  journal  under  the  name  of 
Arator  (the  plowman).  John  Taylor  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Caroline  County,  Virginia,  and  a  hundred 
years  ago  was  president  of  the  Agricultural- Society  of 
Virginia.  In  these  essays,  which  appeared  in  the 
sixty-four  numbers  of  the  Arator,  some  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  scientific  agriculture  as  they  are 
understood  to-day  were  first  set  forth.  In  one  of  his 
essays  Mr.  Taylor  says: 

Land  in  America  affords  little  pleasure  or  profit,  and  ap- 
pears in  a  progress  of  continually  affording  less.  Virginia  is 
in  rapid  decline;  land  in  New  York  formerly  producing 
twenty  bushels  to  the  acre  now  produces  ten.  Little  profit  can 
be  found  in  the  present  mode  of  agriculture  of  this  country; 
and  I  apprehend  it  to  be  a  fact  that  it  affords  a  bare  subsist- 
ence. Virginia  is  the  southern  limit  of  my  inquiries,  because 
agriculture  had  there  already  arrived  to  its  lowest  state  of  deg- 
radation. The  land  owners  in  this  State  are,  with  few  ex- 
ceptions, in  low  circumstances;  the  inferior  rank  of  them 
wretched  in  the  extreme.  Decline  has  pervaded  all  the  States. 

These  conclusions,  if  true,  are  awfully  threatening  to  the 
liberty  and  prosperity  of  a  country  whose  hostage  for  both 
is  agriculture.  An  order  of  men  earning  a  bare  subsistence, 
in  low  circumstances,  and  whose  inferior  rank  is  wretched  in 
the  extreme,  cannot  possibly  constitute  a  moral  force  adequate 
to  either  object.  It  is  therefore  highly  important  to  the  agri- 


THE  FERTILITY  OF  THE  SOU.  235 

cultural  class  to  ascertain  whether  it  is  true  that  agriculture 
is  in  a  decline.  .  .  . 

The  terrible  facts  that  the  strongest  chord  which  vibrates  in 
the  heart  of  man  cannot  tie  our  people  to  the  natal  spot,  that 
they  view  it  with  horror,  and  flee  from  it  to  new  climes  with 
joy,  determine  our  agricultural  progress  to  be  a  progress  of 
emigration  and  not  of  improvement,  and  leads  to  an  ultimate 
recoil  from  this  exhausted  resource  of  an  exhausted  country. 

EARLY  RECOGNITION  OF  THE  VALUE  OF  CLOVER. 

Mr.  Taylor  continues  to  discuss,  in  other  numbers  of 
the  Arator,  the  true  source  of  nitrogen  for  the  farmer: 

We  must  restore  to  the  earth  its  vegetable  matter  before  it 
can  restore  to  us  its  bountiful  crops.  Facts  demonstrate  that 
by  the  use  of  vegetables  we  may  collect  manure  from  the  at- 
mosphere with  a  rapidity  and  in  an  abundance  far  exceeding 
that  of  which  we  have  robbed  the  earth.  To  draw  from  the 
atmosphere  the  greatest  quantity  of  manure  to  check  the  loss 
the  earth  sustains  from  evaporation  during  the  process  of 
shade,  to  give  the  manure  the  most  lasting  form,  and  to  de- 
posit it  in  the  most  beneficial  manner,  are  primary  objects  of 
the  "  inclosing  system."  The  best  agent  known  for  effecting 
the  three  first  is  red  clover.  Its  growth  is  rapid;  its  quantity 
exceeds  the  product  of  any  other  grass;  it  throws  up  a  suc- 
cession of  stems  in  the  same  summer,  and  these  stems  are  more 
solid  and  lasting  than  those  of  other  grasses.  These  successive 
growths  constitute  so  many  distinct  drafts  from  the  great 
treasure  of  atmospherical  manure  in  one  year.  While  these 
drafts  are  repeated  the  clover  is  daily  securing  the  treasure 
in  a  form  able  long  to  elude  the  robber,  evaporation,  whom 
it  also  opposes  by  shade.  To  the  extracting  from  the  atmos- 
phere the  greatest  quantity  of  manure  and  elaborating  it  into 
a  lasting  form  the  most  suddenly  of  any  vegetable  cover, 
clover  lays  for  wheat  are  indebted  for  their  fame.  The  tap 
root  of  the  clover  also  advances  the  intention  of  the  "  inclos- 
ing system"  in  several  respects.  By  piercing  the  earth  to  a 
considerable  depth  apertures  or  pores  are  created  for  imbib- 
ing; and  sinking  deeper,  a  greater  quantity  of  atmospherical 
manure,  so  well  defended  by  the  shade  of  the  top,  and  the 


236          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

friability  thus  communicated  to  the  soil  affords  a  most  happy 
facility  to  the  plow  for  turning  its  vast  bed  of  vegetable 
matter. 

Auxiliaries  to  clover  powerfully  accelerate  its  growth.  The 
peculiar  property  of  clover  to  be  improved  by  a  top-dressing 
of  gypsum  is  another  striking  circumstance  of  its  affinity  to 
the  system  of  fertilizing  land  by  its  own  covers.  As  its 
growth  is  vastly  increased  by  this  top-dressing,  it  furnishes 
reason  to  believe  that  the  effect  flows  from  a  disposition  com- 
municated by  the  gypsum  to  the  clover  for  imbibing  atmos- 
pherical food  in  its  external  parts,  and  so  much  as  it  thus 
gains  affords  to  the  earth  a  double  benefit.  In  some  lands 
clover  will  not  live;  recourse  must  therefore  be  had  to  other 
measures  of  improving  the  land  to  endow  it  with  a  capacity  to 
produce  it,  and  substitutes  for  clover  should  be  sought  out  by 
experience  among  the  individuals  of  the  vegetable  world. 

These  prophetic  extracts  from  the  writings  of  John 
Taylor  are  taken  from  the  Arator  for  1810,  and  I  am 
indebted  to  Dr.  John  R.  Page,  of  the  University  of 
Virginia,  for  having  had  my  attention  called  to  this 
most  important  matter.  The  extracts  which  I  have 
published  are  found  in  the  paper  presented  by  Dr.  Page 
to  a  Convention  of  agriculturists  on  January  29,  1883, 
at  Washington.  This  Convention  was  called  by  George 
B.  Loring,  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  and  is  the 
parent  of  the  splendid  organization  of  the  agricultural 
and  mechanical  colleges  and  experiment  stations  of  the 
country  which  now  wield  so  great  a  force  for  the  im- 
provement of  agriculture. 


XXIII 

DRY  FARMING 

A  SERIOUS  problem  affects  the  fanners  of  this 
country,  not  only  on  that  fringe  which  separates 
the  arid  from  the  wet  portions  of  the  community,  but 
also  as  it  affects  the  farmers  who  live  in  the  so-called 
wet  zone.  I  have  now  had  five  seasons'  experience  on 
my  farm  in  Virginia.  The  first  season  was  an  ideal 
one  respecting  the  distribution  of  the  rainfall  in  the 
spring  and  summer.  There  was  neither  a  drought  nor 
an  excess  of  rainfall  at  any  part  of  the  growing  period. 
I  had  an  encouraging  success  in  growing  crops  which 
are  peculiarly  susceptible  to  the  effects  of  drought,  my 
first  oat  crop  averaging  57  bushels  to  the  acre,  which 
was  a  revelation  to  the  farmers  of  my  vicinity,  who  were 
used  to  securing  only  from  20  to  30  bushels  of  oats  per 
acre.  The  Indian  corn  crop  was  also  most  excellent, 
yielding  a  larger  return  than  any  crop  that  has  been 
grown  since. 

During  the  last  four  years  there  has  been  an  ex- 
cessively dry  May.  This  unseasonal  dry  weather  has 
shortened  every  single  grass  crop,  with  the  one  excep- 
tion of  alfalfa.  As  I  have  grown  alfalfa  only  one  year 
in  the  five,  I  haven't  had  much  benefit  from  this  excep- 
tion. Clover  and  timothy  have  been  almost  entire 
failures,  not  averaging  on  my  farm  over  three-fourths 
of  a  ton  per  acre.  The  wheat  has  been  uniformly 

237 


238 

shortened  in  its  growth,  and  thus  made  somewhat  diffi- 
cult of  harvest.  The  heads  have  also  been  very  short 
and  not  well  filled. 

This  present  season,  1914,  May  started  with  a  prom- 
ise of  the  most  wonderful  clover  and  wheat  crop  that 
had  ever  been  seen.  From  the  fifth  of  May  until  the 
thirteenth  of  June  there  was  hardly  sufficient  rain  to 
lay  the  dust  The  contrast  was  made  greater  by  the 
fact  that  the  spring  had  been  excessively  wet,  and  much 
of  the  plowing  had  been  done  when  the  ground  was  too 
wet  for  that  purpose.  The  result  was  cloddy  fields. 
Indian  corn  planted  after  the  twentieth  of  May  in  many 
cases  failed  to  germinate.  The  wheat  was  suddenly 
cut  short  in  its  growth  but  nevertheless  yielded  a  boun- 
tiful harvest.  The  clover,  which  promised  a  phenom- 
enal yield,  was  cut  down  to  less  than  a  ton  per  acre, 
and  the  pastures,  which  should  be  green  at  this  season, 
were  dry  and  brown. 

This  condition  of  affairs,  as  I  have  said,  has  been 
encountered  in  four  seasons  out  of  five.  The  problem 
of  dry  farming,  therefore,  is  one  which  is  peculiarly 
important  to  the  farmer  situated,  as  I  am,  in  a  region 
of  usually  abundant  rains,  but  which  is  subject  at  some 
period  of  the  growing  season  every  year  to  injury  by 
drought. 

FIBST    OFFICIAL,   EXPEEIMENT   IN   DBY    FARMING. 

The  subject  of  dry  farming  has  received  a  consider- 
able degree  of  attention  from  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture. Crops  of  considerable  magnitude  have  been 
grown  on  areas  which  a  few  years  ago  were  supposed 
only  to  afford  foliage  in  the  early  part  of  the  year.  I 
recall  in  this  connection  the  first  experiment  made  by 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  in  so  far  as  I  know,  in 


DRY  FARMING  239 

the  principles  of  dry  farming.  During  the  seasons 
from  1885  to  1902  I  was  in  charge  of  experiments  in 
the  production  of  sugar  and  syrups  from  sorghum,  sugar 
cane  and  sugar  beets,  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States.  A  model  factory  for  the  production  of  sugar 
from  sorghum  was  erected  at  Medicine  Lodge,  Kan- 
sas. This  was  in  the  midst  of  the  season  of  lean  years 
in  that  State,  where  whole  townships  in  the  western 
portion  of  the  states  were  depopulated  by  reason  of  a 
series  of  years  of  little  rain. 

Sorghum  is  a  dry  farming  crop.  I  have  called  it, 
and  I  think  appropriately,  the  camel  among  cereals. 
Its  first  growth  is  slow  and  precarious.  When  once, 
however,  its  root  system  is  developed,  it  will  grow  and 
thrive  where  Indian  corn  will  wilt  and  shrivel.  The 
sorghum  for  the  experimental  work  was  grown  upon 
the  farm  of  Eli  Benedict,  adjoining  Medicine  Lodge, 
Kansas.  In  the  winter  of  1888  the  field  which  was  to 
be  seeded  to  sorghum,  about  thirty  acres,  was  plowed 
and  subsoiled.  In  this  way  it  was  made  to  hold  prac- 
tically all  the  rain  that  fell  during  the  winter  and 
spring.  There  was  almost  no  run-off  from  this  field. 
The  summer  of  1889  proved  to  be  an  excessively  dry 
one,  as  its  predecessor  had  been.  Indian  corn  in  the 
vicinity  of  Medicine  Lodge  was  almost  a  complete  fail- 
ure. The  sorghum,  however,  which  was  planted  in 
this  field  grew  apace  and  made  a  splendid  crop. 

The  practice  which  I  have  just  described  is  the  fun- 
damental principle  of  dry  farming.  The  Department 
of  Agriculture  thus  may  be  regarded  as  having  made 
the  first  practical  experiment  in  dry  farming  on  record. 
This  system  of  preparing  a  deep  seed  bed  which  will 
hold  all  of  the  moisture  that  falls,  and  of  keeping  the 
surface  of  it  well  mulched  and  stirred  by  frequent 


240  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

plowing  to  prevent  evaporation,  is  the  fundamental 
principle  of  all  the  dry  farming  that  is  carried  on  in 
the  United  States  to-day.  I  am  convinced  that  the 
farmers  of  Virginia  and  other  places  similarly  situated 
must  act  in  accordance  with  this  principle. 

DIFFICULTIES    OF   DRY    FARMING. 

In  the  soils  of  Virginia,  especially  those  in  Loudoun 
County,  the  difficulties  of  dry  farming  are  indeed  very 
great,  but  not  insurmountable.  These  lands  have  been 
in  cultivation,  many  of  them,  more  than  two  hundred 
years.  Loudoun  County  was  the  first  settlement  in 
Virginia  after  Jamestown.  Its  superb  virgin  soil  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  early  immigrants,  and  there- 
fore it  was  quickly  settled.  At  the  time  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  Loudoun  County  was  the  most  popu- 
lous county  of  Virginia.  It  contained,  in  round  num- 
bers, nineteen  thousand  inhabitants ;  at  the  present  time 
its  population  is  only  a  little  over  twenty-one  thousand. 

The  system  of  agriculture  in  vogue  in  Loudoun 
County  has  been  that  generally  practised  throughout 
the  United  States,  namely,  shallow  plowing  and  con- 
tinued cultivation  in  such  crops  as  corn,  wheat,  oats 
and  timothy.  All  of  these  crops  take  valuable  nourish- 
ment from  the  soil  and  yield  practically  nothing  in  re- 
turn. The  result  is  easily  predicted.  Underneath 
the  surface  which  has  been  stirred  by  the  plow  is  a  firm, 
almost  impervious,  clay  sub-soil.  In  addition  to  this  it 
is  very  thickly  studded  with  small  and  large  rocks, 
which  interfere  seriously  with  sub-soil  operations.  Yet 
I  feel  perfectly  certain  that  this  crust  must  be  broken 
through  so  as  to  deepen  the  seed  bed  if  we  are  to  escape 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  drought  which  is  almost  certain 
to  visit  this  part  of  the  State  during  the  growing  season. 


DRY  FARMING  241 

I  have  tried  various  methods  of  inaugurating  dry 
fanning  in  Loudoun  County.  The  common  sub-soil 
plow  which  follows  the  ordinary  field  plow  is  hardly 
sufficient  to  secure  the  purpose  in  view.  It  is  so  easily 
thrown  out  by  a  stone,  and  so  difficult  to  insert  except 
when  the  land  is  really  too  wet  to  plow,  as  to  make  its 
general  application  problematical.  I  have  now  experi- 
mented with  a  deep  tilling  plow  made  of  a  double  disc 
of  steel,  one  disc  following  the  other.  I  have  gone  far 
enough  with  this  work  to  believe  that  if  taken  at  the 
proper  time  and  consistence,  just  when  the  land  has 
been  thoroughly  wet  to  a  great  depth  and  is  just  dry 
enough  to  plow,  but  not  too  dry,  this  double  disc  will 
penetrate  the  clay  sub-soil  and  produce  a  seed  bed  to  a 
depth  of  from  fifteen  to  sixteen  inches.  If  this  could 
be  accomplished,  the  Virginia  farmer  would  be  able 
to  snap  his  fingers  at  the  annual  dry  spell  which  he  ex- 
periences. What  is  true  of  Loudoun  County  is  true  of 
the  whole  area  of  the  United  States  where  the  rainfall 
is  supposed  to  be  sufficiently  abundant  to  produce  a 
crop. 

The  deepening  of  the  tillable  soil  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed will  also  be  of  imense  advantage  in  times  of 
excessive  rain.  The  storage  capacity  of  the  soil  is 
vastly  increased,  and  the  run-off  in  a  heavy,  rainy  sea- 
son thereby  diminished.  The  result  will  be  fewer  and 
less  disastrous  floods,  and  moister,  less  hardened  fields. 

THE    FALLING    WATEB    LEVEL. 

In  this  connection  the  late  Dr.  McGee  has  made  in- 
teresting studies  relating  to  the  water  line  of  the  soils 
of  this  country.  According  to  his  investigations  the 
water  line  of  the  soil  is  receding,  that  is,  one  has  to  dig 
further  to  find  water  now  than  he  did  fifty  or  one  him- 


242  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

dred  years  ago.  This  continued  lowering  of  the  water 
line  is  laid  mainly  to  the  deforestation  of  the  country. 
If  this  be  true,  the  water  line  may  be  raised  again  by 
reforestation  of  those  denuded  areas  which  are  unsuit- 
able for  cultivation.  Naturally  the  danger  of  a  drought 
which  will  injure  the  crop  is  increased  in  proportion 
as  the  water  line  is  lowered,  thus  rendering  capillary 
moisture  inaccessible  to  the  growth  of  plants. 

The  farmer,  therefore,  who  is  able  to  afford  it,  should 
institute  experiments  looking  to  his  greater  independ- 
ence of  the  vicissitudes  of  the  season.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  amount  and  distribution  of  the  rainfall  is  one 
of  the  dominant  features  in  the  variation  of  crop  yields. 
Vast  areas  of  our  country  are  ruined  agriculturally 
every  year  by  persistent  drought.  This  is  particularly 
true  of  those  States  which  border  on  the  arid  regions, 
as  Texas,  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  the  Dako- 
tas.  There  is  scarcely  a  year  that  some  very  large 
area  of  this  region  is  not  practically  rendered  worthless 
by  persistent  drought 

It  may  be  that  the  evils  of  deforestation  have  been 
somewhat  accentuated,  but  I  do  believe  that  it  is 
the  universal  experience  of  all  persons  who  have  lived 
in  a  wooded  country  that  there  is  a  greater  uniformity 
in  the  moisture  of  the  soils  of  the  forest  than  ever  has 
been  noticed  in  the  soils  of  the  field.  Whether  or  not 
Dr.  McGee  was  right  in  supposing  that  there  is  a  re- 
cession of  the  water  line  in  the  soil,  makes  little  differ- 
ence from  a  practical  point  of  view.  To  restore  pristine 
conditions  by  reforestation  would  mean  the  overturn  of 
the  work  which  our  fathers  did  in  clearing  the  fields  of 
their  forests.  Moreover,  the  benefit  which  reforesta- 
tion could  offer  would  be  an  extremely  slow  one,  and  a 
great  many  years  would  have  to  elapse  before  it  could 


DRY  FARMING  243 

bear  its  full  fruition.  On  the  other  hand,  the  farmer 
may  at  once  begin  to  prepare  a  deeper  seed  bed,  and 
thus  secure  the  same  purpose  in  an  entirely  different 
way.  Deep  plowing,  sub-soiling,  and  keeping  the  sur- 
face of  the  field  in  perfect  tilth,  in  my  opinion  are  the 
great  forces  which  tend  to  nullify  the  effects  of  the  un- 
equal distribution  of  the  rainfalL 


XXIV 

THE  FUNCTION  OF  WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE 

I~N  December,  1894,  I  accepted  an  invitation  to  ad- 
dress a  convention  of  irrigation  farmers  at  Fresno, 
California,  on  some  matter  connected  with  agriculture. 
It  occurred  to  me  that  the  most  appropriate  theme 
which  I  could  discuss  before  such  a  convention  was  the 
function  of  water  in  agriculture.  I  therefore  prepared 
an  address  in  which  I  considered  water  in  its  various 
aspects  relating  to  the  farmer.  I  propose  to  give  in  a 
brief  space  some  of  the  more  important  points  covered 
in  that  address. 

Few  farmers  realize  the  dominant  influence  of  water 
as  a  factor  in  agriculture.  When  we  look  at  agricul- 
ture from  a  strictly  scientific  point  of  view,  without 
reference  to  its  economy,  the  soil  becomes  a  very  sec- 
ondary consideration.  The  skilled  chemist  can  pro- 
duce a  synthetic  soil  from  sand,  carbonate  of  lime,  salts 
of  potash,  artificial  humus,  nitric  acid,  phosphate  of 
lime  and  other  ingredients,  in  which  plants  will  grow 
luxuriantly  and  to  complete  maturity.  The  farmer 
can  also  create  a  synthetic  atmosphere,  as  is  done  in  the 
building  of  the  so-called  hothouse.  The  farmer  fur- 
ther can  produce  a  synthetic  precipitation  by  adding  the 
water  to  the  growing  crop  directly. 

The  creation  of  an  artificial  climate,  however,  over 
a  large  area  is  beyond  the  scope  of  human  endeavor. 
On  the  contrary,  a  soil  which  is  practically  infertile, 

244 


g  8 

d.  2 

%  * 

r  a 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE      245 

incapable  of  producing  a  crop,  may  be  restored  over 
wide  areas  to  a  condition  of  great  fertility.  In  other 
words,  it  may  be  made  to  feed  the  growing  plant  Thus 
while  artificial  climate,  irrespective  of  water  supply, 
must  of  necessity  be  confined  to  the  narrowest  areas, 
a  soil  may  be  practically  reconstructed  over  large  areas 
and  economically  utilized  for  the  growing  of  crops. 

In  all  places  where  irrigation  is  possible  such  soils 
may  be  made  independent  altogether  of  natural  precipi- 
tation. The  quantity  of  water  required  for  a  growing 
crop  is  enormous.  We  are  familiar  with  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  hot  sun  can  dry  a  field,  but  the  quantity 
of  water  which  the  sun  may  take  from  the  soil  is  by  no 
means  so  great  as  that  which  is  exuded  from  the  foliage 
of  the  plant  at  the  period  of  its  most  rapid  growth. 
Computations  of  the  quantities  of  water  which  are  thus 
evaporated  into  the  air  from  the  leaves  of  plants  are 
necessarily  largely  estimations.  Enough  is  known, 
however,  to  make  it  certain  that  a  rapidly  growing  crop 
at  the  period  of  its  greatest  exuberance  is  a  much  more 
potent  factor  in  drying  the  soil  than  the  sun's  rays. 

PLANT    FOOD   IN    SOLUTION". 

The  plant  food  exists  in  a  soil  of  ordinary  content 
of  moisture  in  a  state  of  solution  in  the  soil  moisture. 
The  particles  of  moisture  are  extremely  small,  but  that 
doesn't  prevent  them  from  becoming  saturated  with  the 
soluble  materials  of  the  soil  if  there  are  enough  of  them 
in  the  soil  to  produce  this  saturation.  The  droplet  thus 
saturated  is  beyond  the  ken  of  the  eye,  but  possibly 
might  be  seen  with  a  powerful  microscope.  As  the 
quantity  of  water  in  the  soil  diminishes,  the  quantity 
of  plant  food  in  solution  is  decreased.  In  other  words, 
by  evaporation  of  the  particles  of  water  the  contents 


246  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

which  they  held  in  solution  are  solidified  and  deposited. 

That  soil  is  fertile  in  which  there  are  sufficient  quan- 
tities of  plant  foods  to  properly  saturate  the  soil  par- 
ticles, and  thus  permit  of  the  translation  of  the  inor- 
ganic constituents  of  the  particles  of  water  to  the  living 
fluids  of  the  plant  and  their  elaboration  into  new  forms 
of  growth.  The  maximum  fertility  of  the  soil,  other 
things  being  equal,  will  be  found  in  such  a  distribution 
of  the  water  content  as  to  maintain  always  a  normal 
saturation  of  the  water  particles  with  the  soluble  con- 
stituents of  the  soil.  I  mean  by  normal,  that  quantity 
which  will  afford  the  rootlets  of  the  plant  the  maximum 
of  food  which  they  demand.  In  the  growing  crop, 
therefore,  damage  is  produced  whenever  the  quantity 
of  soluble  materials  in  the  soil,  due  to  the  amount  of 
water  present,  is  too  small,  as  in  the  case  of  drought,  or 
too  large,  as  in  the  case  of  flood,  to  properly  nourish  the 
plant. 

We  have  this  year  seen  a  remarkable  illustration  of 
the  mass  action  of  seasonal  factors  in  the  production 
of  a  record-breaking  crop.  The  data  which  are  avail- 
able at  the  time  of  this  writing,  end  of  June,  1914, 
seem  to  indicate  the  greatest  yield  of  wheat,  both  in 
actual  quantity  and  in  amount  per  acre,  that  this  coun- 
try has  ever  known.  This  increased  production  can- 
not be  in  any  way  attributed  to  an  increased  fertility 
of  the  soil.  In  point  of  fact,  as  has  before  been  pointed 
out,  the  soil  fertility  is  probably  decreasing  as  a  whole, 
instead  of  increasing,  in  the  country  at  large. 

EESPECTIVE    WEIGHTS   OF    WATEB    AND    CROP. 

The  only  other  factor  which  can  be  considered  is  the 
season  itself.  That  means  the  amount  of  rainfall,  its 
distribution,  the  quantity  of  heat  registered  from  the 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE      247 

sun  and  its  distribution,  and  the  periods  of  low  tem- 
perature, and  their  distribution.  Thus  the  bumper  crop 
of  wheat  which  we  are  now  harvesting  is  due  chiefly  to 
seasonal  influences  over  which  the  farmer  has  no  con- 
trol. Among  these  the  water  factor  plays  a  dominant 
part.  Water,  therefore,  is  charged  with  a  great  agri- 
cultural duty.  The  failure  of  the  water  to  perform  its 
normal  functions,  either  through  a  deficiency  or  an  ex- 
cess of  supply,  affects  most  profoundly  the  total  yield. 
Thus  among  the  factors  of  environment  the  most  im- 
portant to  be  considered  is  water  itself. 

Dr.  McGee,  shortly  before  his  untimely  death,  pub- 
lished a  most  interesting  article,  in  which  he  developed 
along  many  lines  this  idea  of  the  agricultural  duty  of 
water.  From  Dr.  McGee's  paper  we  learn  the  per- 
centages of  water  in  various  types  of  soil  which  are 
most  favorable  to  crop  production.  The  optimum  of 
moisture  ranges  from  4  to  45  per  cent,  and  in  some 
vegetable  soils  the  optimum  percentage  of  moisture  is 
even  higher.  If  the  depth  of  the  soil  under  cultivation 
is  represented  by  a  foot,  the  quantity  of  water  per  acre 
to  this  depth  should  average  about  2,000  tons.  The 
average  quantity  of  water  required  per  acre  for  the  pro- 
duction of  a  good  crop  is  about  6,000  tons  per  year. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  under  favorable  con- 
ditions of  the  natural  distribution  of  water,  the  weight 
of  crop  produced  is  about  one  one-thousandth  of  the 
amount  of  water  used  in  its  production.  In  other 
words,  a  pound  of  wheat  and  straw  in  natural  propor- 
tions requires  about  one  thousand  pounds  of  water  for 
its  production.  On  the  other  hand,  including  the  soil  to 
a  depth  of  one  foot,  under  favorable  conditions  of  mois- 
ture and  other  elements  of  the  environment,  a  pound  of 
soil  produces  about  1/333  of  its  weight  of  a  crop.  In 


248  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

other  words,  a  pound  of  maize,  grain,  blade  and  stalk 
in  natural  proportions,  would  require  about  333  pounds 
of  soil  for  its  production.  We  would  hardly  think  in 
looking  at  a  loaf  of  bread  weighing  one  pound  and  a 
half  that  almost  1,000  pounds  of  rainfall  and  333 
pounds  of  soil  were  necessary  for  its  production. 

In  general  it  is  found  that  taking  soils  as  a  whole, 
the  reduction  of  their  water  content  to  about  8  per  cent, 
would  practically  inhibit  plant  growth.  It  is  some- 
times almost  a  marvel  that  a  plant  can  live  at  all  dur- 
ing periods  of  drought,  when  as  far  as  the  eye  is  con- 
cerned no  trace  of  moisture  can  be  detected  in  the  first 
few  inches  of  the  soil  of  the  field.  It  is  not  an  unusual 
thing,  however,  to  see  a  crop  revived  and  again  placed 
in  vigorous  growth  after  an  abundant  rain,  which  ap- 
parently was  beyond  hope  before  the  rain  descended. 

In  irrigated  regions  it  has  been  possible  to  measure 
very  accurately  the  amount  of  water  necessary  for  the 
production  of  a  crop,  where  the  water  is  applied  as 
wanted,  great  economics  are  secured,  and  these  measure- 
ments confirm  the  statement  above  given.  Measure- 
ments made  in  Idaho  with  various  crops  have  shown  the 
following  ratio: 

1  pound  of  alfalfa  requires  432  pounds  of  water. 

1  pound  of  beans  requires  153  pounds  of  water. 

1  pound  of  beets  requires    91  pounds  of  water. 
1  pound  of  Indian  corn  requires  136  pounds  of  water. 

1  pound  of  oats  requires    91  pounds  of  water. 

1  pound  of  potatoes  requires    46  pounds  of  water. 

1  pound  of  wheat  requires     66  pounds  of  water. 

Professor  King  found  by  measurements  made  in 
Wisconsin  with  a  controlled  water  supply  that,  on  an 
average,  446  pounds  of  water  were  required  to  produce 
a  pound  of  dry  crop.  This  is  a  little  higher  than 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE      249 

the  estimates  made  for  the  irrigated  regions  in  Idaho. 
These  data,  however,  are  sufficient  to  show  not  only  the 
dominating  influence  of  water  in  crop  production,  but 
the  enormous  quantity  of  it  required.  They  also  show 
that  where  the  precipitation  is  about  equally  distributed 
over  the  entire  year  with  a  rainfall  of  approximately 
40  inches,  only  about  one-third  of  the  precipitation  on 
a  field  of  growing  grain  is  used. 

THE  WEIGHT  OF  THE   SOIL  TO   THE  ACRE  AND  AVERAGE 
BAINFAJ.L. 

Very  many  determinations  have  been  made  of  the 
specific  gravity  of  the  soil.  When  this  is  ascertained 
it  is  easy  to  calculate  the  weight  of  the  soil  per  acre 
to  any  given  depth.  Ordinary  soil  is  about  21/2  times 
heavier  than  water,  and  the  weight  of  soil,  one  foot 
deep,  over  an  acre  of  land  is  approximately  2,000  tons. 
The  amount  of  water,  therefore,  necessary  to  produce 
a  crop  is  many  times  heavier  than  the  weight  of  the  soil 
to  the  depth  of  one  foot  in  which  the  crop  grows. 

Over  the  so-called  humid  region  of  the  United  States 
the  mean  rainfall  is  about  four  feet  The  mean  rain- 
fall over  the  States  in  the  regions  bordering  the  arid 
area  of  the  United  States  is  about  thirty  inches.  The 
mean  rainfall  in  the  semi-arid  regions  of  the  United 
States  is  about  twelve  inches ;  while  the  mean  rainfall 
for  the  driest  portions  of  the  United  States  varies  from 
nothing  at  all  to  about  six  or  seven  inches. 

Of  the  total  amount  of  water  that  falls  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  soil,  about  one-third  reaches  the  sea.  A 
small  quantity  of  the  water  is  worked  up  into  organic 
union  with  growing  crops,  or  in  the  crystallization  of 
minerals,  or  else  sinks  so  deep  into  the  earth  as  to  escape 
any  further  measurement.  All  the  rest  of  the  rainfall, 


250  THE  LURE  OP  THE  LAND 

except  the  two  parts  mentioned,  is  thrown  back  into  the 
air  by  evaporation.  In  other  words,  considerably  more 
than  one-half  of  all  the  water  that  falls  on  the  surface 
of  the  earth  is  returned  to  the  air  in  gaseous  form.  It 
is  the  part  of  the  water  that  runs  off  into  the  sea  that 
produces  the  erosion  of  the  soil,  to  which  attention  has 
already  been  called. 

Often  the  expression  is  heard  that  the  seasons  are 
changing,  that  some  portions  of  the  country  are  becom- 
ing drier  and  some  portions  wetter.  The  data  on  which 
such  assumptions  are  based  are  wholly  untrustworthy, 
or  at  least  too  fragmentary  to  warrant  any  general 
credence.  One  of  the  reasons,  which  has  been  most 
frequently  assigned  for  changing  seasons  in  so  far 
as  rainfall  is  concerned,  is  the  deforestation  of  the 
country,  which  has  proceeded  at  such  alarming  strides 
in  the  past.  On  this  point  the  scientific  men  are  at 
variance.  The  greater  majority  of  them  believe  that 
the  cutting  of  the  forest  tends  to  excessive  precipitation 
or  excessive  drought.  In  other  words,  without  dimin- 
ishing the  total  quantity  of  rain  the  distribution  of  it 
is  greatly  disturbed,  so  as  to  permit  of  the  excesses  just 
mentioned. 

On  the  other  hand,  many  scientific  men  who  have  in- 
vestigated these  points  are  of  the  opinion  that  there 
are  not  enough  reliable  data  at  hand  to  draw  any  posi- 
tive inferences  regarding  changes  of  climate  due  to  re- 
forestation. Nevertheless  I  think  it  is  the  general  be- 
lief, based  upon  observation  and  upon  theoretical  rea- 
sons, that  the  wooded  country  is  more  apt  to  have  an 
even  distribution  of  its  water  supply  through  the  year 
than  one  which  has  been  deforested.  In  this  connec- 
tion, however,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  vast  re- 
gions of  the  United  States  have  not  been  in  forest  at 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE      251 

all  within  the  memory  of  recorded  history,  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  rainfall  in  these  treeless  areas  seems 
to  be  in  no  wise  dependent  upon  the  fact  that  they  had 
no  forests  within  their  borders. 

Apparently  the  escape  of  forest  soil  moisture  into  the 
air  by  evaporation  is  retarded.  On  the  other  hand  vast 
quantities  are  given  off  from  the  foliage  of  the  trees. 
The  planting  of  trees  on  all  areas  not  suited  to  the  plow 
is  to  be  encouraged.  Fields  that  lend  themselves 
readily  to  tillage  had  better  be  kept  for  that  purpose. 


XXV 

THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY 

ONE  of  the  great  problems  which  future  scientific 
agriculture  will  be  called  upon  to  solve  is  the  de- 
creasing meat  supply.  There  seems  to  be  no  question, 
so  far  as  statistics  are  concerned,  that  the  increase  of 
the  population  in  the  United  States  is  more  rapid  than 
the  increase  in  the  number  of  meat  animals  on  the 
farms.  This  is  especially  true  of  beef  cattle,  and  to  a 
less  extent  is  also  true  of  swine  and  sheep. 

There  are  two  methods  of  attacking  a  problem  of 
this  kind:  One  is  the  adoption  of  a  modified  vege- 
tarian diet;  and  second,  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
animals  which  supply  meat.  In  my  opinion  the  path 
of  wisdom  traverses  both  of  these  territories  of  nutri- 
tion. There  is  little  question  in  my  mind  of  the  fact 
that  well-to-do  urban  people  eat  too  much  meat.  When 
we  sit  down  to  a  fashionable  dinner  we  not  only  have 
oysters  and  soup,  but  also  fish,  a  roast,  poultry  or  game, 
and  usually  patties  of  some  kind  containing  meat,  and 
in  general  a  diet,  the  nutritive  portions  of  which  are 
furnished  chiefly  from  animal  sources. 

DIMINISH    THE    MEAT    DIET. 

For  dietetic  reasons,  and  that  means  also  for  health 
reasons,  the  great  variety  of  products  of  animal  origin 
furnished  at  the  ordinary  well-to-do  dinner  should  be 
restricted.  Aside  from  milk,  butter  and  eggs,  which 

252 


THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY  253 

are  not  generally  looked  upon  as  animal  diet  and  yet  in 
fact  are  of  that  class,  one  kind  of  meat  at  a  meal  is 
quite  sufficient.  I  might  even  go  further  than  this  and 
say  one  kind  of  meat  at  one  meal  a  day.  For  instance, 
if  eggs  be  provided  for  breakfast,  and  that  is  the  meal 
at  which  they  are  usually  eaten,  no  other  meat  product 
is  advisable,  unless  it  be  a  mere  sliver  of  bacon  for  con- 
dimental  purposes.  The  luncheon  is  best  without  any 
animal  product  at  all  except  milk  and  butter  or  cheese. 
Luncheon,  for  one  of  sedentary  employment,  should  be 
a  light  meal.  The  dinner,  which  should  come  after 
the  day's  work  is  over  for  all  who  are  engaged  in  sed- 
entary employment,  may  have  a  roast,  beef  or  mutton 
or  pork,  or  poultry  or  game,  but  never  more  than  one. 

If  these  ideas  of  dietary  practice  could  be  carried 
into  effect,  there  would  be  a  less  demand  for  meat 
among  the  well-to-do.  This  diminution  of  demand, 
other  things  being  equal,  would  produce  a  lowering  of 
price  which  would  enable  those  in  more  straitened  cir- 
cumstances to  indulge  in  meat  oftener  than  they  do. 
From  the  selfish  farmer's  point  of  view  the  lowering 
of  price  is  not  desirable.  I  may  say,  even,  that  from 
the  scientific  point  of  view  on  the  agricultural  side, 
the  lowering  of  the  price  to  the  consumer,  which  of 
course  would  have  its  reflex  upon  the  price  to  the 
farmer,  is  not  desirable,  unless  it  could  be  effected  by 
economies  in  handling  the  product. 

LITTLE   PROFIT    IN    BEEF    GROWING. 

My  own  experience  during  the  present  year  1914 
shows  that  the  price  obtained  by  the  farmer  in  the  pro- 
duction of  beef  under  present  conditions  is  barely  com- 
pensatory from  a  financial  point  of  view.  I  sold,  early 
in  April,  35  steers,  weighing  at  the  barns  an  average  of 


254  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

1,165  pounds  each.  In  shipment  from  my  farm  to 
Bennings,  which  is  the  abattoir  of  Washington,  these 
animals  lost  45  pounds  each  in  weight,  and  I  received 
for  the  weight  at  Bennings  $7.75  per  hundred  pounds. 
Having  kept  a  fairly  accurate  account  of  the  expenses 
involved  in  producing  these  cattle,  I  found  that,  ex- 
clusive of  the  manure  which  they  furnished,  my  ac- 
tual profit  on  the  transaction  was  a  little  over  $100,  or 
about  $3  per  head.  It  is  readily  seen  that  a  very 
slight  decrease  in  price  of  the  cattle  would  have  brought 
me  out  in  debt. 

Moreover,  it  is  hardly  probable  that  under  present 
conditions  the  price  of  beef  per  head  to  the  farmer 
would  undergo  very  much  diminution,  unless  it  be  by 
combinations  in  restraint  of  trade  whereby  the  farmer 
will  be  frozen  out  while  the  consumer  will  still  pay  as 
much  as  he  does  at  the  present  time.  It  is  a  noticeable 
fact  that  when  the  price  of  meat  animals  falls  to  the 
farmer,  you  wait  a  long  time  to  see  the  price  to  the  con- 
sumer diminished.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  price 
to  the  consumer  is  increased,  it  is  a  long  while  before 
the  reflex  of  this  increase  shows  in  the  increased  profits 
of  the  farmer. 

FOBMEB  METHOD  OF  BEEF  PBODUCTION  ABNOEMAL* 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  production  of  meat  ani- 
mals, especially  beef  and  mutton,  has  not  been  a  normal 
industry.  The  vast  areas  of  the  semi-arid  plains, 
which  are  open  to  free  grazing,  afforded  an  oppor- 
tunity of  producing  beef  and  mutton  under  abnormal 
conditions,  that  is,  under  conditions  of  minimum  cost. 
Animals  produced  in  this  way  could  be  sold  at  a  figure 
which  rendered  the  efforts  for  the  production  of  beef 
and  mutton  more  generally  throughout  the  older  settled 


THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY  255 

portions  of  the  country  a  most  hazardous  business. 
There  was  no  telling  when  the  price  to  the  producer  of 
such  animals  would  be  so  reduced  by  the  heavy  influx 
of  plains-grazed  cattle  and  sheep  to  the  markets  as  to 
leave  the  old  farmer  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  balance 
sheet.  These  abnormal  conditions  are  now  rapidly  dis- 
appearing. The  grazing  of  the  public  domains  has 
been  reduced  to  a  system,  so  that  it  is  possible,  with  a 
fair  degree  of  accuracy,  to  forecast  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion of  meat  animals  of  those  areas.  This  gives  a 
datum  of  substantial  foundation  to  enable  the  older 
farmer  who  wishes  to  produce  meat  animals  to  deter- 
mine, with  a  very  great  degree  of  probability,  the 
amount  of  competition  he  will  have  to  meet. 

A  study  of  the  second  problem,  however,  the  increase 
in  the  number  of  meat  animals,  is  naturally  divided 
into  two  correlated  parts.  The  growing  of  additional 
numbers  of  beef  cattle  will  of  course  be  accomplished 
just  as  soon  as  it  appears  to  the  farmer  that  he  can 
get  a  greater  profit  by  turning  a  bull  calf  into  a  steer 
to  be  sold  at  the  age  of  two  or  three  years  for  beef,  than 
ho  can  get  by  selling  him  at  six  weeks  for  veal,  which 
is  the  common  practice  of  to-day.  Hence  the  increased 
production  of  beef  animals  must  follow  the  conserva- 
tion of  the  calf. 

SELL  OR  KEEP  THE  BULL  CALF. 

Under  the  present  practice  a  calf  at  six  weeks  will 
bring  the  Eastern  farmer  at  least  in  the  neighborhood 
of  ten  dollars  in  cash.  If  the  calf  is  kept  for  three 
years  and  produces  a  steer  that  weighs  approximately 
twelve  hundred  pounds,  the  fanner  may  expect  a  price, 
under  present  conditions,  of  from  $80  to  $100.  Mean- 
while, how  much  does  it  cost  to  maintain  a  steer  for 


256  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

this  length  of  time?  In  answering  this  question  it 
must  be  supposed  that  the  steer  is  fed  and  not  starved, 
as  is  the  common  practice  of  farmers  in  so  far  as  winter 
feeding  is  concerned.  The  young  steer  is  put,  his  first 
winter,  usually  upon  a  diet  of  wheat  straw  and  Indian 
corn  fodder.  The  result  of  this  diet  is  that  he  weighs 
less  in  the  spring  than  he  does  in  the  fall,  and  has  ac- 
quired the  starvation  habit,  which  is  the  natural  result 
of  his  enforced  hunger  strike.  It  takes  half  of  the 
next  summer,  when  he  is  turned  on  grass,  to  overcome 
the  handicap  of  the  winter  of  starvation.  Assuming 
that  he  has  fairly  good  pasturage  during  the  summer, 
that  is  all  the  feed  he  gets,  and  in  the  second  winter 
he  undergoes  the  same  privations  as  in  the  first.  In 
the  third  summer  an  attempt  is  made  to  prepare  him  for 
the  market.  As  a  rule,  he  gets  nothing  but  grass.  If 
this  be  blue  grass  and  in  abundance,  it  is  all  he  needs ; 
but  it  isn't  every  steer  that  has  access  to  blue  grass. 
In  the  autumn  the  farmer  usually  feeds  him  some 
freshly  grown  Indian  corn  to  finish  him,  and  in  the 
beginning  of  October  the  steer  grown  in  this  way  will 
weigh  from  nine  hundred  to  eleven  hundred  pounds. 

If  the  farmer  had  to  hire  the  pasture  and  buy  the 
straw  and  corn  fodder  and  other  food  which  is  consumed 
during  these  three  years  and  a  half  of  life,  he  would 
have  been  feeding  the  animal  for  1,277  days  at  5 
cents  a  day,  which  is  a  reasonable  minimum  of  the  cost 
of  his  food  for  this  length  of  time.  The  total  cost  of 
the  feeding  of  the  animal  is,  in  round  numbers,  $64. 
Add  to  this  the  cost  of  the  invested  funds  and  the  risk 
cost  of  injury  or  death,  and  the  result  is,  in  round  num- 
bers, $75  as  the  cost  of  this  animal.  At  1,000  pounds 
at  7  cents  a  pound,  he  is  worth  $70,  showing  a  net  loss 
on  the  bringing  up  of  this  steer  to  a  marketable  state 


THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY  257 

of  $5.  At  1,200  pounds  this  animal  would  show  a 
profit  of  $9.00. 

Contrast  this  with  the  selling  of  the  calf  at  six  weeks. 
The  milk  furnished  by  the  mother  of  this  calf  may  be 
roughly  estimated  at  two  gallons  a  day.  The  farmer 
can  sell  this  milk  in  any  ordinary  market  at  about  $.14 
net  per  gallon.  It  therefore  costs  $.28  a  day  to  nour- 
ish the  calf.  For  42  days  the  total  cost  of  keeping  the 
calf  is  $13.50.  The  calf  should  weigh  100  pounds, 
and  it  is  worth  $.09  a  pound,  giving  a  selling  price  of 
$9.  The  loss  on  the  calf  is  only  $4. 

Thus  it  is  a  toss-up,  under  present  conditions,  whether 
the  farmer  should  sell  the  calf  at  six  weeks  or  keep  him 
for  three  years  and  a  half  and  sell  him  for  beef.  There 
is  nothing  in  it  for  him  in  either  case.  The  answer  to 
this  statement  is  that  the  calf  on  the  farm,  growing  up  a 
steer,  eats  food  which  the  farmer  could  not  sell.  This 
is  the  whole  story  in  so  far  as  any  profit  is  concerned. 
There  is  a  certain  amount  of  roughage  and  pasture  on 
every  well  regulated  farm  that  the  farmer  could  not 
dispose  of  to  profit,  and  hence  it  would  be  wasted  if 
it  were  not  fed  in  the  manner  described.  Any  profit, 
therefore,  which  the  farmer  gets  from  growing  meat 
animals,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  may  utilize  food 
products  which  otherwise  would  be  a  total  loss. 

GROWING    BABY    BEEF. 

In  the  scientific  record  of  growing  beef,  namely,  baby 
beef,  can  better  results  be  obtained  ?  In  the  first  place 
baby  beef,  that  is,  animals  not  over  18  or  20  months 
of  age,  or  two  years  at  most,  weighing  from  900  to 
1,100  pounds,  bring  a  much  higher  price  on  the  mar- 
ket than  ordinary  beef  cattle.  This  increase  of  price 
amounts  to  from  ll/o  to  2  cents  per  pound  on  the  hoof. 


258  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

A  baby  beef  weighing  900  pounds  ought  to  bring  the 
farmer  $90.  If  the  animal  be  sold  at  two  years,  he 
will  have  been  fed  for  730  days.  From  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  his  life  he  eats  about  17^  cents'  worth 
a  day.  The  total  cost  of  production  is  therefore 
$127.75.  The  apparent  loss  on  baby  beef  is  $32.25 
per  head.  The  farmer,  therefore,  who  had  to  buy  all 
the  food  to  bring  up  a  baby  beef  steer,  would  be  rapidly 
approaching  bankruptcy.  As  in  the  other  case,  the  sal- 
vation of  this  process  is  in  the  utilization  of  food  which 
the  farmer  could  not  sell. 

The  above  illustrations  show  the  fundamental  diffi- 
culty which  has  to  be  overcome  before  it  is  evident  to 
the  farmer  that  the  production  of  increased  numbers  of 
beef  cattle  is  desirable  from  his  point  of  view.  With 
the  production  of  pork  and  mutton  the  difficulties  are 
not  so  great,  but  not  having  had  any  very  great  deal  of 
experience  in  this  line  I  refrain  from  giving  approxi- 
mate estimates  of  cost  and  of  profit  or  loss. 

EXTENDING  THE  AEEA  OF  PRODUCTION. 

The  second  part  of  the  problem  is  one  more  of  theo- 
retic consideration,  namely,  the  more  general  diffusion 
of  the  production  of  meat  animals.  As  has  already 
been  intimated,  the  vast  plains  of  the  semi-arid  West 
and  the  fruitful  cornfields  of  Missouri,  Illinois,  In- 
diana, Iowa  and  Nebraska,  have  been  the  dominant 
factors  in  the  production  of  beef  and  pork.  These 
great  centers  of  production  have  been  supplemented  by 
great  centers  of  distribution.  After  all  has  been  said 
that  is  deserving,  and  this  is  much,  of  the  advantages 
of  great  centers  of  distribution  of  meat  products,  it  can- 
not be  denied  that  there  is  always  more  or  less  danger 
of  combinations,  made  possible  by  the  existence  of  such 


THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY  259 

centers,  that  are  inimical  to  the  producer  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  consumer  on  the  other. 

In  other  words,  the  practical  control  of  the  meat 
products  trade  by  a  few  immensely  wealthy  corpora- 
tions is  an  element  of  danger  which  cannot  be  too  care- 
fully considered.  If  the  production  of  meat  animals 
could  be  encouraged  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  so  that 
every  farmer  would  have  a  few  animals  for  sale,  and  if 
these  animals  could  find  a  market  in  near-by  centers, 
thus  increasing  immensely  the  numbers  of  centers  of 
distribution,  the  dangers  of  the  monopolistic  system 
would  be  largely  neutralized.  It  is  highly  important, 
therefore,  tnat  smaller  centers  of  production  be  encour- 
aged, and  these,  in  turn,  would  make  it  possible  to  es- 
tablish smaller  centers  of  distribution. 

HARDSHIPS    OF    TBTJST    CONTROL. 

At  the  present  time  the  farmer  who  produces  a  few 
steers,  as  is  the  case  with  myself,  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  per  year,  when  he  goes  into  the  market  meets 
the  competition  of  the  great  distributing  firms.  Theo- 
retically the  price  of  cattle  on  the  hoof  in  Virginia 
should  be  greater  than  in  Chicago.  This  is  true  be- 
cause the  great  majority  of  all  meats  consumed  along 
the  Eastern  border  of  the  United  States  come  from  the 
packing  centers  of  the  Middle  West.  Nevertheless,  I 
believe  it  would  be  more  profitable  for  the  Virginia 
farmer,  if  he  could  ship  in  carload  lots,  to  send  his  cat- 
tle to  Chicago.  There  he  would  get  from  1  to  2  cents 
a  pound  more  on  the  hoof  than  he  does  at  Bennings  or 
Baltimore. 

An  illustration  of  this  is  found  in  my  recent  experi- 
ence. My  cattle  lost  45  pounds  a  head  in  shipping 
from  Bluemont  to  Bennings,  a  distance  of  55  miles. 


260  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

The  cattle  were  18  hours  en  route.  The  firm  to  which 
I  sold  them  received,  a  short  time  afterwards,  a  carload 
of  cattle  from  Chicago  that  had  been  three  days  and  a 
half  en  route,  and  which  had  lost  only  23  pounds  per 
head  in  transit.  It  doesn't  cost  much  more  to  ship  a 
carload  of  cattle  from  Bluemont  to  Chicago  than  it  does 
from  Bluemont  to  Baltimore.  The  greatest  degree  of 
loss  to  cattle  is  during  the  first  day  of  shipment.  The 
next  three  days  they  would  lose  but  little.  Steers 
weighing  1,200  pounds  in  Chicago  are  worth  from  8  to 
10  cents  a  pound  on  the  hoof.  Could  I  have  sold  my 
steers,  which  ought  to  have  reached  Chicago  weighing 
at  least  1,100  pounds,  at  9  cents  a  pound,  I  would 
have  gotten  $99  apiece  for  them;  whereas  I  got  only 
$85.50  a  head  for  them  at  Bennings.  In  other  words, 
I  would  have  received,  in  round  numbers,  $11  apiece 
more  for  them  in  Chicago  than  I  got  at  Bennings. 
This  would  have  paid  all  the  freights  and  left  me  still 
a  handsome  profit.  Yet  the  very  meat  which  we  eat 
might  have  been  sent  back  from  these  steers  over  the 
same  line,  as  is  the  case  every  day,  and  thus  have  made 
a  journey  of  nearly  2,000  miles  before  consumption. 

3STOEMAL   PBICE    DISTURBED. 

I  have  said  that  according  to  the  natural  law  beef 
cattle  on  the  hoof  should  be  worth  more  along  the  At- 
lantic Coast,  especially  near  the  large  cities  of  Balti- 
more and  Washington,  than  they  are  in  Chicago.  As 
a  further  proof  of  this  assertion  I  may  say  that  the 
farmer  gets  more  for  his  wheat  and  his  corn  along  the 
Atlantic  Coast,  and  especially  near  Washington  and 
Baltimore,  than  he  can  get  for  it  in  Chicago.  The  aver- 
age difference  is  about  5  or  6  cents  a  bushel.  Wheat 
and  corn,  are  not  controlled  by  any  distributing  corpora- 


<•••- 


• 


EXPERIMENTS      WITH      KERTILI7.ERS     ON      POTATOES,      KENTUCKY      EXPERIMENT 
STATION.          POTASH     IS     ESPECIALLY     USEFUL     FOR     POTATOES. 

Per  AiTf 
Ni  .     1     Blank  ......................................................    50.0  I 

N<  .    *     Nilrntr  of  S.H|II.  HH)  »>,  ........................................    (10.5  I 

Ni  .    S     Arid  phinphHli-.  140  Ilii    .................  43.K  I 

Muriate  of  potuh.  IflOltM..  ..  .H7.0I 

Blank     .  45.0  I 

Nilratrof  ««ln.  HOT  Ih.  .  ii.-iil  ph.wphalr.  140  UM  .    .VI  :l  I 


Nilrntr  of  <IM|II.  KM!  II,,.;  murialr  of  |H,l««n.  I»M»  II,, 
H  ,\<ii|  ,,lioM,l,«lr.  1  40  II,,.:  murialr  of  pota.li.  ItlO  II,, 
9  Nilr.it.-  of  -,-l.i.  KM)  It,,.;  ai-iil  phmphatr.  140  II,,:  muriatr 

HM)  II,, 
10     l.,ti,|   plii,l.  r.  I.IMIO  II,, 


of    |,.,I.,,|| 


\-i-i .H  I 
».'»  0  li 


KB  K  l,u 


THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY  261 

tion.  They  have  a  normal,  natural  price  in  the  mar- 
kets, and  therefore  the  Virginia  farmer  gets  more  for 
his  wheat  or  his  corn  than  the  Illinois  farmer  does,  and 
this  is  in  accordance  with  the  legitimate  principles  of 
transportation,  supply  and  demand. 

DATA   RELATING   TO   DECREASING   MEAT    SUPPLY. 

The  latest  obtainable  data  in  regard  to  the  shortage 
of  meat  animals  are  those  issued  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  in  February,  1914.  They  are  as  follows: 

SHORTAGE  OF  18,259,000  MEAT  ANIMALS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

The  indicated  total  shortage  of  meat  animals  since  the 
census  of  1910  is  nearly  9  beef  cattle,  7  sheep  and  over  3 
hogs  for  each  100  of  the  total  estimated  population  of  the 
United  States  in  January,  1914,  according  to  the  estimates 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  just  published  in  the  Agri- 
cultural Outlook.  This  means  that  it  would  take  18,259,000 
more  meat  cattle,  sheep  and  swine  than  the  estimates  show  at 
present  in  this  country,  to  give  the  present  population  the 
same  meat  supply  that  the  census  of  1910  showed  to  exist. 

These  estimates  are  based  upon  reports  and  estimates  from 
the  Department's  field  and  State  agents  and  county,  township 
and  special  correspondents,  who  have  reported  on  practically 
every  county  in  the  United  States.  The  figures  moreover  have 
been  compared  with  those  of  the  census  of  1910  and  with  the 
records  of  tax  assessors  in  the  various  States  as  far  as  they  are 
available.  The  Department  therefore  believes  that  these  figures 
represent  the  best  information  obtainable  on  the  numbers  and 
values  of  live  stock,  including  meat  animals. 

The  estimates  with  regard  to  meat  animals,  that  is,  cattle 
other  than  milch  cows,  and  sheep  and  swine,  indicate  a  steady 
and  fairly  uniform  decrease  in  the  number  of  meat  cattle  and 
sheep  and  a  slight  increase  in  the  number  of  swine.  The  figures 
of  the  present  estimates  compared  with  the  census  of  1910  are 
significant  in  showing  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  meat 
animals  especially  in  comparison  with  the  increase  in  popula- 
tion. 


262  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

ACTUAL  DECREASE  OF  MEAT  ANIMALS 

Total  De- 
crease (D)    Average  annual 
January,  1914        Census  or  Increase       decrease  or 

(estimated)  1910  (I)  increase 

Beef  Cattle    ...35,855,000       41,178,000        (D)5,323,000        (D)l,330,000 

(12.9%)  (3.2%) 

Sheep      49,719,000        52,448,000        (D)2,729,000        (D)     682,000 

(5.2%)  (1.3%) 

Swine     58,933,000        58,186,000         (I)     747,000         (I)      180,250 

(1.3%)  (0.3%) 

Total  meat  animals,   Census  of   1910 151,812,000 

Estimated  number,  January,  1914 144,507,000 

Estimated   decrease    7,305,000 

The  figures  by  years  are  as  follows,  those  subsequent  to  1910 
being  estimates  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture: 

Beef  Cattle  Sheep  Swine 

January    1,    1914    35,855,000  49,719,000  58,933,000 

January    1,    1913     36,030,000  51,482,000  61,178,000 

January    1,    1912     37,260,000  52,362,000  65,410,000 

January    1,    1911     39,679,000  53,633,000  65,620,000 

Census,   April    15,    1910 41,178,000  52,448,000  58,186,000 

The  actual  figures  of  decrease  or  increase  as  stated  above, 
however,  do  not  take  into  consideration  the  increase  in  the 
population  of  the  United  States,  and  therefore  do  not  show  the 
difference  in  the  ratios  between  meat  animals  and  population 
as  between  January,  1914,  and  the  census  year  of  1910.  The 
report  of  the  last  census  shows  a  population  in  1910  of  91,972,- 
000,  and  estimates  an  annual  increase  subsequent  to  1910  that 
would  make  the  population  in  1914  equal  to  98,646,000. 

Taking  this  figure  of  estimated  population : 

Beef  cattle  are  19.2%  short  of  the  number  nec- 
essary to  maintain  the  per  capita  ratio  of 
1910,  or  8,536,000 head; 

Sheep  are  11.6%  short,  or  6,509,000  head ; 

Swine  are  5.2%  short,  or 3,214,000  head ; 


Making  an  indicated  total  shortage  of  meat 
animals  since  the  census  of  1910  of  ap- 
proximately  18,259,000  head 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  estimates  show  there  is 
actually  a  decrease  of  7,305,000  food  animals  since  the  census 
of  1910,  the  estimated  farm  value  of  the  cattle,  sheep  and 


THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY        263 

swine  on  farms  on  January  1, 1914,  shows  an  increase,  because 
of  higher  prices,  as  follows: 

Estimated  value,  January,  1914 $1,930,087,000 

Census    (1910)    1,534,600,000 


Increase  in  valuation  $   395,487,000 

The  increase  indicated  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  estimates 
show  that  the  farm  value  of  beef  cattle  has  increased  from 
$19.07  to  $31.13  a  head,  or  63.2%,  an  average  annual  increase 
of  over  15%.  Swine  have  increased  in  value  from  $9.17 
to  $10.40  per  head,  or  13.4%.  Sheep  have  decreased  from  an 
estimated  average  farm  value  of  $4.12  in  1910  to  $4.04  in 
1914. 

FARMERS  NOT  PROFITING  BY  INCREASED  VALUATION 

This  increase  in  the  average  value  of  meat  animals,  however, 
does  not  necessarily  mean  that  farmers  or  stock  raisers  are 
making  more,  if  any,  profit.  On  the  contrary,  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction has  probably  increased  more  rapidly  than  the  increase 
in  the  selling  price  of  live  stock. 

SOME  CAUSES  OF  THE  SHORTAGE  OF  MEAT  ANIMALS  AND  IN- 
CREASE IN  THEIR  VALUE 

The  shortage  of  meat  animals  is  probably  due  to  a  number 
of  contributing  causes.  Some  of  the  more  important  of  these 
are: 

The  encroachment  of  farms  upon  the  range  territory. 

The  lack  of  a  proper  range  leasing  law  permitting  econom- 
ical management  and  utilization  of  ranges. 

The  shortage  in  the  corn  and  forage  crop  due  to  the  severe 
drought  in  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Oklahoma  in  1913,  which 
caused  the  farmers  in  those  States  to  dispose  of  their  meat 
animals. 

The  increase  in  the  value  of  land  and  the  increased  cost  of 
labor  and  stock  feed,  resulting  in  greatly  increased  cost  of 
production. 

The  decline  in  stockraising  on  farms  in  the  East  and  South 
because  of  poor  marketing  facilities,  resulting  from  many 
local  slaughtering  establishments  having  been  driven  out  of 


264  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

business  by  the  competition  of  the  great  central  slaughtering 
establishments  of  the  West  and  Central  West. 

The  temptation  to  sell  live  stock  at  the  prevailing  high 
prices  rather  than  to  continue  to  carry  them  with  high-priced 
stock  feed,  possible  loss  from  disease  or  accident,  and  uncer- 
tain prices  the  following  year. 

NO  LONGER  PROFITABLE  TO  GROW  MEAT  ANIMALS. 

From  these  data  the  officials  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  conclude  that  even  at  the  prevailing  high 
prices  it  is  no  longer  profitable  for  farmers  to  grow 
meat  animals.  In  other  words,  the  cost  of  food  for 
these  animals  and  the  cost  of  taking  care  of  them  have 
increased  at  a  more  rapid  rate  than  the  price  of  the 
animals  themselves  when  sold.  It  is  generally  con- 
ceded by  farmers  who  have  lands  suitable  for  the  or- 
dinary purposes  of  agriculture,  that  it  doesn't  pay  to 
grow  beef  cattle  on  the  farm.  It  is  more  remunerative 
to  purchase  the  cattle  at  the  age  of  two  or  two  and  a 
half  years  from  localities  where  grazing  only  is  possi- 
ble. Nearly  all  the  farmers  in  Loudoun  County,  Vir- 
ginia, grow  beef  cattle  for  the  fall  market,  and  prac- 
tically all  of  them  buy  their  cattle  either  from  the 
West  or  from  the  mountains  of  southwestern  Virginia, 
northwestern  North  Carolina,  and  eastern  Kentucky  or 
Tennessee.  On  these  mountains,  where  plowing  the 
fields  is  somewhat  difficult  and  land  is  cheap,  the  steers 
may  be  grown  without  much  artificial  feeding  and  very 
little  care,  and  perhaps  at  a  profit  to  the  farmers  of 
those  localities.  These  young  steers  at  two  and  a  half 
years  of  age  cost  the  Loudoun  County  farmers  about 
$45  apiece,  and  by  keeping  them  over  winter  and  turn- 
ing them  onto  the  blue  grass  the  next  summer,  the 
farmer  thinks  he  makes  a  large  profit  when  he  sells 
them  for  from  $70  to  $80  apiece. 


THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY  265 

I  have  tried  in  a  small  way  to  grow  a  few  beef  cattle, 
full-blooded  and  grade  Aberdeen  Angus  variety.  For 
these  steers,  when  at  1,000  to  1,200  pounds,  I  am  able 
to  get  half  a  cent  a  pound  more  than  for  the  ordinary 
beef  cattle.  When,  however,  the  cost  of  feeding  these 
cattle  is  taken  into  consideration,  and  also  the  cost  of 
care,  the  profits  are  not  superior  to,  and  perhaps  hardly 
equal  to,  those  obtained  in  the  ordinary  method  of  pur- 
chasing stock  cattle  which  prevails  in  the  community. 

In  regard  to  this  lack  of  profit  to  farmers,  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  report  referred  to  makes  the 
following  comment: 

MEAT  RAISING  EVIDENTLY  NOT  PROFITABLE  TO  FARMERS 

The  large  increase  in  the  value  of  meat  animals  on  farms  is 
probably  accounted  for  by  the  increased  cost  of  production 
and  the  increased  consumption  or  demand  arising  from  the 
fact  that  production  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  increase  in 
population,  and  in  the  case  of  cattle  and  sheep  has  actually 
declined.  It  is  well  known  that  producers  of  farm  products 
are  the  last  to  receive  any  benefit  from  higher  prices  paid  by 
consumers,  yet  they  are  among  the  first  to  increase  production 
if  there  is  a  prospect  of  realizing  better  returns.  The  very 
fact  that  there  is  a  present  shortage  of  nearly  19,000,000  meat 
animals  in  the  United  States  since  the  census  of  1910  indicates 
clearly  that  the  business  is  not  profitable  to  producers;  other- 
wise every  farmer  and  stock  raiser  in  the  country  would  have 
increased  his  herds  of  meat  animals.  It  should  also  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  estimated  average  value  of  meat  animals  is 
their  value  on  the  farm,  and  not  the  wholesale  or  retail  value. 
The  farm  value,  or  average  price  received  on  farms,  is  much 
less  than  the  wholesale  prices  and  considerably  less  than  the 
retail  prices  to  consumers. 

Another  distinction  which  is  rather  discouraging  to 
the  farmer  who  would  like  to  grow  his  own  beef,  is 
this:  When  the  farmer  hands  in  his  returns  for  his 


266  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

income  tax  and  states  the  price  he  received  for  his  beef 
cattle,  he  is  allowed  to  subtract  the  price  he  paid  for 
them  as  stock  animals.  On  the  contrary,  if  the  farmer 
grows  his  own  beef  on  the  farm  and  sells  the  fat  steer 
for  $90,  the  whole  selling  price  must  be  reported  for 
income  purposes. 

These  conditions  indicate  so  grave  a  situation  as  to 
require  the  careful  consideration  of  all  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  future  of  agriculture.  The  old  system  of 
providing  the  meat  supply  of  this  country  has  broken 
down.  When  we  had  access  to  the  almost  unbounded 
wealth  of  the  virgin  soils  of  the  Middle  West  and  the 
grazing  States,  the  cost  of  production  of  meat  was 
reduced  to  a  minimum.  At  the  same  time  there  arose 
in  this  country  a  method  of  handling  meat  animals  in 
large  packing  houses.  There  is  no  question  of  the  fact 
that  the  cost  of  handling  in  this  way  is  reduced  to  a 
minimum.  It  costs  far  less  to  slaughter  the  meat  ani- 
mals in  a  large  packing  house  and  prepare  them  for  con- 
sumption than  it  would  cost  the  farmer  who  did  it  at 
home. 

The  meat  supply  of  this  country  was  therefore  an 
abnormal  one,  due  to  the  cheapness  of  production  on 
the  one  hand,  and  to  the  efficiency  and  cheapness  of 
handling  on  the  other.  But  these  benefits  to  the  con- 
sumers during  the  last  fifty  years  are  hardly  to  be 
counted  as  blessings  to  the  consumers  of  the  next  fifty 
years.  The  whole  theory  of  meat  production  must  be 
changed.  The  production  of  meat  should  become  uni- 
versal instead  of  localized.  Every  farmer  ought  to  be 
able  to  produce  a  few  meat  animals  more  than  is  neces- 
sary for  his  own  supply.  The  meat  industry  would 
thus  be  decentralized  and  spread  over  the  whole  coun- 
try. The  possibilities  of  manipulation  which  the 


THE  DECREASING  MEAT  SUPPLY  267 

monopoly  of  the  business  now  offers  would  be  mini- 
mized. 

By  this  universal  extension  of  the  industry  a  multi- 
tude of  small  abattoirs,  controlled  by  the  towns  and 
small  cities,  would  arise,  which,  while  they  could  not 
compete  in  absolute  efficiency  and  economy  in  the 
handling  of  meat  animals,  would  have  the  advantage  of 
handling  them  near  the  points  of  consumption.  We 
should  not  look  forward  to  a  period  when  the  killing 
would  be  done  on  the  farm;  this  is  too  wasteful  and 
too  cruel;  but  we  could  look  forward  with  hope  and 
enthusiasm  to  the  establishment  of  the  small  abattoirs 
of  which  I  have  spoken.  It  has  been  my  good  fortune 
to  see  some  of  these  small  abattoirs  under  municipal 
control,  and  I  have  found  them  clean,  sanitary  and 
efficient  There  is  also  a  benefit  to  agriculture  in  hav- 
ing the  abattoirs  scattered  all  over  the  country.  The 
offal,  the  blood,  the  tankage  and  the  refuse  of  the  abat- 
toir make  excellent  fertilizers,  and  these  could  be  pro- 
duced in  the  localities  where  they  are  needed. 

ENCOURAGE   THE    SMALL    FARMER   TO    GROW    MEAT 
ANIMALS. 

Every  effort  it  seems  to  me,  therefore,  should  be  put 
forward  to  encourage  the  small  farmer  to  grow  meat 
animals.  If  this  is  not  done,  the  realization  of  the  ideal 
of  the  local  butcher  of  steak  at  $1  a  pound  may  not  be 
very  remote. 

On  the  other  hand,  meat  animals  controlled  by  a  few 
immense  corporations  do  not  obey  the  usual  law  of 
demand  and  supply.  The  problem  is  a  difficult  one, 
but  if  meat  animals  are  to  be  increased  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  population,  they  must  be  grown  by 
greater  numbers  of  people  and  under  conditions  which 


268          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

eliminate  unnatural  control  of  price.  The  figures  col- 
lected by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  show  that  in  many  places 
the  retail  price  of  beef  is,  in  round  numbers,  fifty  per 
cent,  higher  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago  to  the  con- 
sumer. And  the  retail  price  of  pork  has  gone  up  at  a 
still  higher  rate.  The  possible  contingency  of  lower- 
ing the  price  of  beef  by  importation  from  foreign  coun- 
tries is  not  one  that  appeals  either  to  the  patriotism  or 
the  pocket-books  of  the  American  farmer.  As  Henry 
Wallace,  one  of  the  deans  of  agricultural  editorial 
writing  in  the  United  States,  has  very  aptly  remarked : 

It  is  not  likely  that  the  farmers  would  consider  themselves 
particularly  obliged  to  grow  enough  cattle  irrespective  of 
profits  so  as  to  keep  the  packing  houses  running  at  full  capac- 
ity and  thus  enable  the  packers  to  make  a  maximum  of  profit. 

They  have  not  yet  forgotten  1908,  when  the  banks  of  the 
West  were  full  of  packers'  paper,  which,  it  was  claimed,  did 
not  exceed  in  value  the  meats  in  cold  storage  and  could  have 
been  paid  off  by  simply  stopping  the  purchase  of  cattle  for  six 
weeks. 

What  they  did  was  to  cut  down  their  purchases  for  three 
months  —  and  every  man  that  had  cattle  or  hogs  to  sell  at  that 
time  had  to  take  about  two-thirds  of  their  value  until  the 
debts  of  the  packers  were  paid.  Many  of  the  farmers  still 
remember  this  and  will  not  soon  forget  it. 


XXVI 

STATISTICS  RELATING  TO  ANIMALS  ON  FARMS 

THE  number  of  cattle,  excluding  calves,  on  farms 
in  the  United  States  for  the  census  years  1910, 
1900,  1890,  and  1880,  is  given  in  the  table  below;  also 
for  the  years  1910  and  1900,  the  number  including 
calves : 

NUMBER  OP  CATTLE,  EXCLUDING  CALVES,  ON  FARMS 

1910  1900  1890  1880 

53,997,327  52,403,828  57,648,792  39,675,553 

0  61,803,866  67,719,410 

In  regard  to  these  comparative  numbers,  it  is  stated 
in  the  census  report  that  the  enumeration  for  the  thir- 
teenth census  was  made  as  of  April  15th,  while  the 
enumeration  for  the  twelfth  census,  1900,  was  as  of 
June  1st  It  is  therefore  concluded  that  some  five  or 
six  million  calves  which  were  born  between  the  period 
of  April  15th  and  June  1st  were  not  enumerated  in 
the  census  of  1910.  Thus  the  total  number  of  cattle 
for  comparative  purposes  in  the  1910  census  should  be 
increased  by  five  or  six  million  in  order  to  be  compara- 
ble with  the  census  for  1900. 

Allowing  for  the  number  of  cattle  which  would  have 
been  slaughtered  or  died  during  this  interval,  also,  the 
census  concludes  that  instead  of  a  decrease  in  the  total 
number  of  cattle  of  8.7  per  cent.,  as  shown  by  the 

*  Including  calves. 

260 


270  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

census  figures,  there  would  probably  have  been  a  de- 
crease of  not  more  than  three  million,  and  possibly 
not  over  one  million,  had  enumeration  for  1910  been 
made  as  of  June  1st.  Even  this  small  decrease  in  the 
number  of  cattle  is  significant,  however,  when  consid- 
ered with  the  increase  of  the  population  of  the  country 
during  the  decade. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that,  so  far  as  the  official  figures  for 
1910  are  concerned,  there  was  a  notable  decrease  of 
cattle  on  the  farms  during  the  decade  and  a  very  large 
increase  in  the  population.  The  number  of  cattle  on 
the  farms  was  very  much  less  in  proportion  to  the 
population  in  1910  than  it  was  in  1900.  It  is  also 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  discrepancy  has  in- 
creased during  the  four  years  that  have  elapsed  since 
the  enumeration  of  the  thirteenth  census  was  made. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  these  data  with  the  num- 
ber of  domestic  animals  in  Great  Britain,  as  reported  in 
Publications  of  the  International  Agricultural  Institute, 
Volume  III,  No.  11: 

NUMBER  OF  LIVE  STOCK  ON  JUNE  4,  1913,  COMPARED  WITH  THE 
NUMBER  ON   JUNE  4,   1912. 

1913  1912  (1912  == 

Class  June  4th.        June  4th.  100). 

Decrease  % 

Horses    ....  1,402,146  1,406,610  3,864  0.3 

Cattle    5,716,944  5,841,720  124,776  2.1 

Sheep    17,130,286  18,053,365  923,079  5.1 

Swine    2,101,902  2,498,670  394,768  15.8 

BTJMBEB,   OF   DAIRY    COWS    IN    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

The  number  of  dairy  cows  for  the  four  decades  from 
1880  to  1910,  inclusive,  is  as  follows: 


STATISTICS  RELATING  TO  ANIMALS  ON  FARMS      271 

1910  1900  1890  1880 

20,625,432  17,135,633  16,511,950  12,443,120 

In  regard  to  the  dairy  cows,  the  census  reports  that 
there  was  a  nominal  increase  over  the  number  for  the 
twelfth  census  of  20.4  per  cent  The  animals  desig- 
nated as  dairy  cows,  however,  at  the  census  of  1910 
included  all  born  prior  to  June  1,  1909,  or,  in  other 
words,  all  over  fifteen  and  a  half  months  old ;  while  the 
class  designated  as  dairy  cows  in  1900  included  only 
those  two  years  of  age  or  over  on  June  1,  1900. 

While  the  data  of  comparison  are  therefore  not 
strictly  representative,  the  census  report  concludes  that 
after  making  all  necessary  allowances  in  the  different 
methods  of  enumeration,  there  was  a  very  considerable 
increase  in  the  number  of  dairy  cows  between  1900 
and  1910.  The  dairy  industry  therefore  is  increasing 
in  the  number  of  dairy  cows,  and  doubtless  also  in  their 
quality.  Its  growth  is  less  rapid  than  that  of  the  popu- 
lation ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  business  of  raising 
cattle  for  slaughter  is  rapidly  declining. 

The  tendency  to  decrease  the  number  of  farm  ani- 
mals appears  to  obtain  in  Great  Britain  also. 

ANIMAL    FOOD    PRODUCTS. 

In  regard  to  the  food  products  of  domestic  cattle, 
interesting  data  are  supplied  by  the  census.  The  total 
quantity  of  milk  reported  as  produced  on  farms  for  the 
census  year  1910  was  5,813,699,000  gallons.  The 
average  production  of  milk  per  cow  was  about  362  gal- 
lons. The  total  reports,  however,  cover  only  a  little 
over  16,000,000  cows.  If  the  unreported  milk  of  the 
remaining  cows  should  be  added  to  this  quantity,  it  is 
seen  that  the  total  production  on  farms  in  1909  would 
have  been  about  7,466,406,000  gallons.  For  1899  the 


272  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

estimated  quantity  of  milk  produced  was  7,265,804,304 
gallons.  The  average  amount  per  cow  for  1910  was 
362  gallons  and  for  1900,  424  gallons.  The  average 
value  per  cow  of  the  milk  produced  in  1900  was  $27.56, 
and  in  1910,  $31.82.  These  values  per  cow,  however, 
do  not  include  the  amount  of  milk  and  other  dairy 
products  consumed  on  the  farm. 

The  Director  of  the  Census,  in  discussing  the  data, 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  while  the  figures  appar- 
ently show  a  larger  production  per  cow  in  1900  than 
in  1910,  this  does  not  warrant  the  belief  that  there  has 
been  an  actual  decrease  in  the  average  production  of 
milk  per  dairy  cow.  The  figures  for  1910  are  believed 
to  be  more  accurate  than  those  for  1900,  for  in  these 
latter  is  included  a  large  element  of  estimations. 

In  regard  to  the  quantity  of  butter,  is  included  not 
only  the  butter  made  on  farms,  but  also  in  factories. 
The  totals  for  the  United  States  for  the  census  years 
1900  and  1910  are  as  follows:  1900,  1,491,752,602 
pounds;  1910,  1,619,415,263  pounds  —  an  increase  of 
8.6  per  cent,  in  the  total  amount  of  butter  made  as  com- 
pared to  an  increase  of  21  per  cent,  in  the  population. 
The  quantity  of  cheese  produced,  both  on  farms  and  in 
factories,  for  the  two  census  years  is  as  follows :  1900, 
298,314,642  pounds;  1910,  320,532,181  pounds  —  an 
increase  of  7.4  per  cent.  Since  the  data  summarized 
above  have  been  collected  a  phenomenal  increase  in  the 
value  of  dairy  cows  has  taken  place.  Good  grade  cows 
of  the  leading  types,  viz.,  Holstein,  Jersey,  and  Guern- 
sey, sell  at  auction  at  from  $75  to  $100,  while  reg- 
istered animals  cost  very  much  more.  The  movement 
to  exterminate  tuberculosis  in  milch  cows  is  gathering 
momentum  and  I  hope  will  soon  be  completely  success- 
ful. Various  estimates  of  the  number  of  tuberculous 


STATISTICS  RELATING  TO  ANIMALS  ON  FARMS      273 

cows  have  been  made  on  the  basis  of  the  number  reacting 
to  the  tuberculin  tests.  These  estimates  indicate  that  a 
larger  percentage,  possibly  25  per  cent.,  of  the  dairy 
cows  in  the  country  will  be  slaughtered  in  the  campaign 
of  exterminating  this  threatening  disease.  The  near 
future  for  this  reason  will  see  a  still  greater  increase 
in  the  value  of  sound  cows. 


XXVII 

THE  TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  THE  INDUSTRIES 
AND  ARTS 

Proceedings  of  a  Convention  of  Agriculturists  held  at  The 
Department  of  Agriculture,  January  23,  24,  25,  26,  27  and  29, 
1883.  (Second  Convention.)  Special  Report  No.  2. 

The  evolution  of  Agricultural  Science  has  been  phenomenal 
in  the  past  third  of  a  century.  The  point  of  view  as  far  back 
as  that  may  show  at  least  how  far  we  have  come.  The  fol- 
lowing paper  was  read  before  a  meeting  of  representatives  of 
the  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experiment  Stations,  Boards  of 
Agriculture  and  Agricultural  Societies,  held  in  Washington,  on 
invitation  of  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  George  B.  Loring, 
January,  1883.  This  convention  was  the  precursor  of  the 
Association  of  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experiment  Stations, 
which  now  exerts  a  powerful  favoring  influence  on  agricul- 
tural education  in  the  United  States. 

Some  of  the  prophecies  of  thirty-one  years  ago  have  al- 
ready been  fulfilled.  The  transfer  of  the  weather  predictions 
from  the  Signal  Service  has  long  been  an  accomplished  fact. 
The  weather  service  was  given  to  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture as  I  predicted.  The  work  of  the  agricultural  colleges  and 
experiment  stations  has  been  systematized  and  vastly  improved. 
Trained  experts,  not  available  thirty  years  ago,  are  now  in 
control  of  most  of  the  experimental  work.  Technical  instruc- 
tion has  advanced  so  rapidly  that  no  longer  does  a  young 
American  need  to  go  abroad  to  obtain  the  technique  to  do  his 
work.  Large  numbers  of  students  are  devoting  themselves  to 
agricultural  studies  and  pursuits.  Engineers  of  all  kinds, 
civil,  mechanical,  electrical  and  agricultural,  are  graduated  in 
increasingly  large  numbers  from  Uncle  Sam's  big  university. 
The  impress  of  this  flood  of  technical  education  is  felt  in  every 
industry.  Unfortunately,  agricultural  industries  have  re- 

274 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      275 

ceived,  so  far,  the  least  assistance.  But  this  is  changing.  The 
graduate  of  the  agricultural  course  is  beginning  to  find  him- 
self. As  foreman  of  the  farm  or  director  of  the  dairy,  he  is 
putting  into  practice  the  principles  of  economy  and  efficiency 
so  greatly  needed  in  the  field  and  orchard. 

In  writing  of  variation  and  crossing  thirty-one  years  ago  I 
could  not  have  mentioned  the  name  of  Luther  Burbank.  His 
star,  of  the  first  magnitude,  had  not  yet  risen.  As  I  look 
back  a  third  of  a  century  and  see  myself  writing  these  lines, 
I  cannot  repress  a  feeling  of  exultation  at  finding  things  as 
good  as  they  are.  We  have  come  farther  than  I  imagined 
possible  in  January,  1883. 

SCIENCE  is  the  mother  of  the  industries  and  arts. 
I  propose  in  this  essay  to  set  forth  this  maternal 
relation  and  briefly  illustrate  its  conditions.  An  in- 
dustry or  an  art  is  applied  science.  This  science  is 
sometimes  the  result  of  theory,  but  more  often  the  off- 
spring of  experience.  Science  is  knowledge  of  matter 
and  the  laws  which  its  action  reveals.  Every  industry 
and  every  art  is  directly  dependent  for  its  success  on 
knowledge  of  the  matter  worked  upon  and  the  laws  of 
its  existence.  To  know  something  of  the  nature  of 
ores  and  of  metals  is  indispensable  to  even  the  crudest 
forms  of  metallurgy.  Tubal  Cain  had  first  to  devote 
himself  to  science  before  he  could  become  a  worker  in 
brass.  Blot  out  of  existence  what  science  has  revealed 
of  the  nature  of  metals,  and  the  progress  of  the  world 
would  at  once  be  stopped,  and  all  civilized  nations  re- 
lapse into  barbarism.  A  beautiful  illustration  of  the 
relation  of  science  to  the  arts  is  found  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  steel.  Chemistry  revealed  the  fact  that  steel 
differed  from  wrought  iron  mainly  in  its  content  of 
carbon. 

The  chemist  also  learned  that  cast  iron  is  richer  in 
carbon   than   either   steel    or   wrought    iron.     In   the 


276          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

process  of  puddling,  the  extra  content  of  carbon  in  cast 
iron  is  gradually  burned  out.  This  led  the  chemist  to 
believe  that  if  this  combustion  could  be  stopped  at  the 
right  time  the  manufacture  of  steel  could  be  rendered 
much  cheaper.  This  idea  eventually  took  shape  in  the 
Bessemer  converter.  As  a  result,  every  industry  and 
every  art  has  been  immensely  benefited.  All  tools  for 
the  machinist,  the  carpenter's  planes,  the  farmer's 
plows,  have  felt  the  influence  of  this  discovery.  It  has 
netted  the  continents  with  steel  rails,  and  thus  cemented 
the  ties  of  international  friendship.  It  has  made  steel- 
plated  ships  in  place  of  the  oak  hulls  of  our  fathers,  and 
has  profoundly  affected  the  progress  and  wealth  of  the 
world.  Cheap  steel  means  plenty  of  work,  good  wages, 
and  cheap  bread. 

Cheap  steel  is  a  great  civilizer  and  a  great  mission- 
ary. The  most  bigoted  heathen  idolater,  who  remains 
unmoved  by  the  sincerest  and  most  potent  appeals  of 
the  devout  missionary,  would  not  endure  for  a  year  the 
exhortations  of  a  Bessemer  converter.  If  science  had 
never  done  anything  for  the  world  other  than  making 
cheap  steel  a  reality  the  world  would  be  to  science  a 
hopeless  debtor.  What  is  true  of  the  steel  industry  is 
true  of  every  metallurgical  process.  We  are  apt  to 
forget  in  the  ripeness  and  success  of  a  business  how  it 
arose  and  by  what  fostering  care  it  was  protected. 

In  this  day,  however,  when  most  of  the  industries 
and  arts  have  already  advanced  to  a  fair  degree  of  per- 
fection, we  are  not  practically  interested  in  how  they 
had  their  origin.  This  is  a  question  more  of  historical 
than  of  practical  interest.  Science  however  has  not 
lost  its  vital  relation  to  industry  by  this  advancement. 
Having  been  the  source  from  which  the  industry  sprang, 
it  remains  the  protector  and  promoter  of  industry.  He 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      277 

is  filled  with  a  false  and  dangerous  pride  who  maintains 
that  any  science  or  art  has  attained  its  perfect  develop- 
ment In  such  self-satisfaction  are  always  found  the 
roots  of  decay.  True,  much  has  been  accomplished, 
but  much  yet  remains  to  be  dona  We  may  then  pro- 
pose as  the  chief  theme  of  this  essay,  "  Science,  the 
guardian  of  industry  and  art."  And,  first:  What  are 
some  of  the  ways  in  which  this  guardian  care  is  to  be 
exercised?  First,  I  will  answer,  science  must  furnish 
an  educated  body  of  workmen.  Industrial  education 
is  the  first  great  duty  of  the  State.  Congress  never 
enacted  a  wiser  law  than  that  which  set  apart  a  certain 
portion  of  the  public  domain  for  the  purpose  of  encour- 
aging agricultural  land,  technical  education  in  the  vari- 
ous States. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  criticize  the  disposi- 
tion which  has  been  made  of  this  munificent  gift.  It 
would  be  easy  to  point  out  blunders  and  mistakes. 
Blunders  arising  from  lack  of  judgment  and  mistakes 
arising  from  ignorance.  What  is  to  be  considered  now 
is  the  intention  of  this  grant.  And  this  certainly  was 
of  the  best.  The  great  demand  of  our  country,  rich  in 
reality,  rich  a  thousand  times  in  near  possibilities,  is 
educated  craftsmen.  In  our  eagerness  to  get  wealth, 
in  the  wild  exuberance  of  our  growth  we  have  neglected 
too  much  the  demands  which  the  near  future  will  have 
upon  us.  Our  fields  will  not  always  be  fertile  without 
fertilizers;  gold  will  not  always  be  found  in  the  river 
sands,  to  be  had  for  the  collecting;  wo  cannot  always 
look  to  Europe  for  the  finest  works  of  skill.  This 
country  is  too  large,  its  wants  too  gigantic,  to  be  sup- 
plied by  foreign  hands. 

Science  therefore  comes  forward  and  offers  her  help 
in  giving  to  the  youth  of  the  land  a  technical  education. 


278  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

The  education  which  science  offers  is  not  of  the  brain 
alone.  There  is  no  dearth  here  of  lawyers,  and  doc- 
tors, and  preachers,  and  novelists,  but  science  recognizes 
the  fact  that  a  human  being  has  a  spinal  cord  as  well  as 
a  cerebrum.  Backbone  is  the  watchword  of  technical 
education. 

Heine,  in  that  beautiful  and  satirical  poem  entitled 
"  Deutschland,"  speaks  of  the  shadow  that  seemed  to 
follow  him  one  night  through  the  streets  of  Cologne. 
It  dogged  his  steps  like  a  spiritus  familiaris.  At 
last  he  stopped  and  addressed  it : 

I  could  not  bear  it,  so  turn'd  sharp  round, 

And  said,  "I  insist  on  an  answer; 
Why  follow  me  thus  in  the  silent  night, 

And  lead  me  this  wandering  dance,  Sir?  " 

The  other  replied  in  a  somewhat  dry  tone, 

If  not  a  little  phlegmatic, 
"I  pray  thee,  exorcise  me  not, 

And  be  not  quite  so  emphatic ! " 

"I  am  of  a  practical  nature  in  fact, 

And  of  silent  resolution ; 
But  know,  that  whatever  thy  spirit  conceives, 

"  I  put  into  execution." 

"  Thy  lictor  am  I,  and  follow  behind, 

And  carry  in  all  its  splendor 
The  polish' d  executioner's  ax; 

I'm  the  deed  which  thy  thoughts  engender." 

So  the  spinal  cord  is  the  "  deed "  of  the  brain's 
thoughts. 

EDUCATING    THE    BACKBONE, 

All  work  of  skill,  all  cunning  and  delicacy  of  handi- 
craft are  the  results  of  educating  the  spinal  cord.  The 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      279 

anatomist  will  tell  you  that  all  the  nerves  that  control 
or  rather  direct  motion  spring  from  this  sensory  cen- 
ter. And  herein  lies  the  great  hold  which  true  science 
has  on  every  industry.  True  scientific  study  has  al- 
ways something  for  the  hand  as  well  as  for  the  brain. 
Science  without  the  laboratory,  is  a  ship  without  a  sea. 
In  the  study  of  botany  we  find  the  hand  at  once  engaged. 
The  manipulations  of  the  magnifying  glass  and  of  the 
dissecting  implements  teach  at  once  a  skill  and  dex- 
terity which  are  never  without  their  value.  The  chem- 
ical and  physical  laboratory  is  even  richer  in  culture 
for  the  backbone.  No  student  can  earnestly  pursue 
the  study  of  these  sciences  in  a  proper  way  without  se- 
curing a  technical  training  that  will  prove  a  lasting 
benefit  Men  must  produce  as  well  as  consume.  Mere 
abstract  reasoning  is  a  good  thing,  but  men  cannot  live 
on  abstract  reasons.  Even  turnips  are  more  nutritious 
than  abstract  reasons.  Fairies  can  "  live  on  lovers' 
sighs,"  but  shepherds  and  lord  chancellors  must  have 
something  more  substantial.  Science  study,  in  or- 
der to  have  its  true  technical  value,  must  be  pursued  in 
a  scientific  manner.  What  has  caused  science  to  be 
looked  on  with  so  much  suspicion  by  many  practical 
men  ?  I  answer,  humbug.  Much  of  what  has  passed 
for  science  in  this  and  other  countries  has  been  the 
flimsiest  shoddy. 

In  many  places  of  instruction  the  object  seems  to 
have  been  simply  "  cram."  Dead  and  dry  platitudes 
have  been  forced  down  the  throats  of  unwilling  subjects 
to  absolute  nausea.  So-called  science  has  been  taught 
without  a  single  idea  of  what  real  science  is.  What, 
then,  could  you  expect  in  the  way  of  results  ?  Noth- 
ing; absolutely  nothing  but  disgust  and  distrust  for 
everything  which  was  suspected  of  being  scientific. 


280  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

Such  science  as  this  has  no  relation  whatever  to  any 
art  or  any  industry.  Even  agriculture  has  not  been 
free  from  these  pretenders  and  their  nostrums,  and  it 
has  been  pelted  and  pestered  in  the  name  of  science  with 
so  much  that  is  irrelevant  and  nonsensical  that  no  won- 
der is  to  be  expressed  at  the  hearty  disgust  which  it  has 
so  often  manifested.  But  happily,  these  doleful  days 
are  passing  away  and  the  dawn  of  the  era  of  true  tech- 
nical training  is  dispelling  the  darkness  which  has  kept 
scientific  claims  from  appearing  in  their  true  light. 

TECHNICAL,    TRAINING    FUNDAMENTAL. 

There  is  no  art  or  industry  which  is  not  vitally  in- 
terested in  this  technical  training.  In  this  training,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  we  are  far  behind  Europe.  If  we  go 
into  any  of  our  factories  where  work  of  skill  is  required 
it  is  surprising  to  find  how  large  a  percentage  of  the 
workmen  are  of  foreign  birth. 

Every  true  friend,  therefore,  of  the  industries  and 
arts  of  our  country  must  look  with  especial  favor  on 
the  efforts  that  have  been  making  during  the  past  few 
years  to  build  up  in  our  country  a  vast  and  thorough 
system  of  technical  training.  Some  may  be  disposed 
to  complain  because  this  system  has  so  far  yielded  no 
striking  results.  But  this  is  not  just.  The  most  val- 
uable products  are  not  taken  from  things  immature. 
Time  must  be  given  for  growth  before  demands  are 
made  for  production. 

In  agriculture,  the  great  and  overshadowing  industry 
of  this  land,  how  few  are  taking  advantage  of  the  sci- 
entific education  which  nearly  every  State  offers  her 
citizens!  In  one  great  State  of  two  million  inhab- 
itants, a  State  with  fertile  soil  and  a  favoring  climate, 
not  fifty  young  men  are  pursuing  the  thorough  course 


HOX.    G.    B.    LORING 


Commissioner  of  Agriculture  who  called  the  first  official  convention  of  the  Agricultural 
Colleges  and  experiment  stations  in  1883 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      281 

in  experimental  and  practical  agricultural  work  which 
the  State  and  country  have  provided. 

THE   DIGNITY   OF  IABOE. 

Manual  labor  is  the  source  of  all  wealth  and  happi- 
ness. No  man  fully  measures  up  to  the  full  stature  of 
manhood  who  shirks  it  altogether.  To  labor  with  the 
hands  is  as  honorable  as  it  is  necessary  to  human  exist- 
ence. Science  encourages  this  habit  of  manual  labor, 
and  at  the  same  time  directs  it  to  the  best  and  most 
profitable  results.  Considered  in  all  its  aspects,  there- 
fore, we  must  allow  to  science  the  possession  of  a  most 
intimate  relation  to  all  that  pertains  to  real  industrial 
and  artistic  achievements.  Most  certainly  must  we  ad- 
mit that,  as  society  is  at  present  arranged,  it  would  be 
quite  impossible  that  every  artisan  should  receive  a 
thorough  scientific  education.  Most  boys  and  girls  are 
financially  debarred  from  this.  The  eternal  and  insist- 
ent cry  of  the  stomach  is  the  first  business  which  every 
person  must  attend  to.  When  this  is  accomplished,  in 
most  cases,  there  is  no  time  or  opportunity  for  anything 
else.  I  have  no  Utopian  view  of  universal  technical 
education  to  offer  here  to-day.  In  these  matters  I  am 
neither  pessimist  nor  optimist,  and  only  an  agnostic  by 
necessity.  But  if  the  cold  facts  of  existence  must  make 
ninety-nine  shiver  through  life  let  the  one  be  warm,  and 
be  able  to  devise  means  whereby  the  ninety-nine  may 
shiver  less.  One  thoroughly  educated  artisan  will  prove 
an  inestimable  blessing  to  a  community  of  uneducated 
artisans.  And  so  it  happens  that,  while  science  works 
apparently  only  for  the  few,  in  reality  it  is  the  many 
who  reap  the  great  benefit.  Unhappily  the  forces  of 
Evil  are  more  keen  than  those  of  Good  to  apply  the  dis- 
coveries of  science.  Peace  is  not  served  as  well  as  war. 


282  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

THE  CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  CHEMISTEY. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  illustrate  by  a  few  in- 
stances how  scientific  training  and  scientific  methods 
have  proved  beneficial  to  an  industry,  and  I  do  not  know 
of  any  more  striking  example  than  that  great  industry  in 
whose  interest  we  are  here  to-day.  I  will  cite  first 
what  chemistry  has  done  in  working  up  the  refuse  of  civ- 
ilized life  into  useful  products.  One  or  two  instances 
of  this  will  be  sufficient.  Take  the  case  of  bones. 
Chemistry  has  shown  that  bones  contain  a  large  amount 
of  phosphoric  acid.  It  also  showed  that  this  acid  was 
an  essential  constituent  of  plant  life,  especially  of  the 
cereals.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  great  industry. 
Bones  which  before  had  been  the  pest  and  plague  of 
cities  and  towns  were  carefully  collected,  ground  and  re- 
turned to  the  soil  as  a  most  valuable  fertilizer. 

Chemistry  also  showed  that  the  nitrogen  of  plants  was 
not  taken  from  the  nitrogen  of  the  air,  at  least  only  in 
small  quantities  by  one  family,  of  plants.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  appeared  that  nitrogen  in  the  form  of 
ammonia  was  most  readily  absorbed.  This  led  the  way 
to  the  guano  beds  and  the  cess-pools.  What  was  be- 
fore considered  not  only  worthless  but  really  noxious, 
was  now  sought  after  to  enrich  the  soil.  It  was 
also  discovered  that  plants  did  not  assimilate  organic 
particles  as  such,  but  that  all  these  had  first  to  undergo 
decomposition  before  they  could  be  used  as  plant  food. 
This  fact  reconciled  people  to  using  as  food,  plants 
grown  with  fertilizers  that  were  most  offensive  to 
thought  and  sense. 

You  may  macerate  a  growing  potato  in  starch,  it 
will  not  absorb  a  single  grain  of  it.  You  may  soak  the 
growing  cane  in  sugar,  the  juice  will  not  be  one  whit  the 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES     283 

sweeter.  You  may  pour  linseed  oil  around  the  roots 
of  growing  flax,  the  seed  will  yield  no  more  oil  under 
the  hydraulic  press  than  before.  In  all  the  above  cases 
it  is  of  course  understood  that  the  yield  will  be  no 
greater  than  if  an  equivalent  amount  of  inorganic  mat- 
ter had  been  supplied  instead  of  the  organic. 

MAKING   A   GARDEN    OF  A   SAJSD    BED. 

A  striking  case  is  found  in  the  gardens  of  Asnieres, 
near  Paris.  These  gardens,  which  now  exhibit  the  lux- 
uriance of  the  tropics,  a  few  years  ago  were  worthless 
fields  of  sand.  Science  has  converted  them  to  their 
present  beautiful  state.  It  has  done  this  by  bringing 
to  them  the  poisonous  sewage  of  Paris.  Here,  if  any- 
where, the  plant  will  find  opportunity  to  absorb  these 
filthy  organic  matters. 

But  the  vegetables  and  fruits  produced  here  are  as 
free  from  sewage  taint  as  if  they  had  been  grown  on 
the  virgin  soil  of  a  Western  prairie. 

Here  we  see  hundreds  of  acres  covered  with  splendid 
vegetables  and  luscious  fruits,  which  only  yesterday 
were  expanses  of. yellow  sand,  on  which  a  few  strug- 
gling weeds  eked  out  a  miserable  existence. 

In  this  manner,  by  the  triumphs  of  science,  the  seeds 
of  disease  and  the  breath  of  pestilence  have  been  made 
to  bring  forth  health  and  wealth,  and  an  arid  waste 
has  been  transformed  into  a  blooming  field. 

There,  by  the  eye  of  scientific  faith,  in  the  blushing 
raspberry  we  see  a  metamorphosis  of  cholera  infantum, 
now  become  a  preserver  instead  of  a  destroyer  of  the 
children. 

Deadly  fevers  appear,  divested  of  all  their  terrors, 
in  bulbous  cabbages  and  pendent  beans ;  miasma  is  seen 
quivering  in  the  leaves  of  the  apple  and  the  pear,  or 


284  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

secretly  instilling  its  jaundice  into  the  velvety  coat  of  the 
peach;  devastating  cholera,  green  and  glaring,  writhes 
and  wriggles  in  harmless  rage  through  the  vines  of  the 
cucumber,  or  loses  in  the  prickly  surface  of  the  goose- 
berry its  sting  of  death. 

Chemistry  is  scarcely  less  valuable  as  a  scavenger  than 
as  an  inventor.  In  all  the  industries  what  to  do  with 
the  waste  product,  is  a  question  of  no  less  importance 
than  the  value  of  the  chief  product.  In  the  meat-mak- 
ing industries  this  economy  of  science  is  set  forth  in  a 
strong  light.  No  part  of  the  animal  tissue  is  now 
thrown  away,  where  a  few  years  ago  there  was  an  enor- 
mous waste.  The  hair,  the  hide,  the  vital  organs,  the 
hoof,  the  horn,  the  blood,  and  the  bones  have  all  found 
a  valuable  application.  This  saving  of  science  has 
come  upon  us  so  gradually  that  we  are  not  aware  of  its 
value.  One  pork-packing  house  in  Chicago  has  lately 
said  that  it  saved  annually  in  waste  products  $200,000, 
which  were  lost  twenty-five  years  ago.  With  such  a 
fact  as  that  on  record,  only  the  veriest  infidel  could 
doubt  the  economic  value  of  science.  In  the  economy 
of  nature  there  is  no  waste.  I  will  say  but  little  more 
of  the  relation  of  chemistry  to  science.  This  theme 
has  been  often  and  thoroughly  discussed.  Returning 
from  this  digression,  I  will  illustrate  a  little  further 
what  science  is  doing  in  the  industry  of  agriculture. 

LIEBIG,   THE   FATHEE  OF  AGBICTJLTUBAL   CHEMISTEY. 

Munich  is  happy  in  the  possession  of  magnificent 
museums  of  painting  and  sculpture.  The  Glyptothek 
is  a  vast  marble  place ;  in  style,  resembling  the  temples 
of  ancient  Greece.  This  majestic  hall  is  filled  with  the 
masterpieces  of  sculpture,  gathered  by  skilled  hands 
from  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES     285 

We  find  there  statues  of  Egyptian  priests  chiseled 
one  thousand  four  hundred  years  before  Christ;  we 
find  marble  vessels  used  for  holding  the  entrails  of  ani- 
mals sacrificed  by  the  earlier  Pharaohs. 

In  the  hall  of  Apollo  we  see  on  the  one  hand  a  colos- 
sal bust  of  Bacchus,  the  god  of  the  vintage,  and  on  the 
other  a  beautiful  torso  of  Diana,  the  virgin  huntress. 
One  wanders  from  hall  to  hall,  bewildered  by  the  pro- 
lixity of  art,  and  oppressed  with  the  presence  of  an- 
tiquity. 

In  the  old  and  new  Pinakotheks  is  found  even  a 
greater  degree  of  excellence  in  painting,  and  also  a 
more  lavish  display  of  abundance  than  the  Glyptothek 
has  shown  in  sculpture. 

The  masterpieces  of  Holbein,  of  Claude  Lorraine, 
of  Rubens  and  Michael  Angelo  decorate  every  wall,  and 
fringe  the  triumphs  of  skill  with  the  halo  of  genius. 
Without,  in  the  city,  long  streets  bordered  with  bronze 
statues  and  ending  in  triumphal  arches,  lure  the  visitor 
on  to  admire  their  beauties  and  recall  their  histories. 

Everywhere  are  Frenchmen,  Englishmen,  Americans, 
who  have  been  attracted  by  all  these  wonders  of  art  and 
have  come,  some  to  take  a  passing  glance  at  them  and 
others  to  study  them  more  at  their  leisure. 

But  there  is  one  place  in  Munich  rarely  visited  by 
travelers.  That  place  is  found  with  some  difficulty, 
and  one  enters  a  narrow  and  muddy  court  and  finds  his 
way  into  a  dingy  and  dirty  room.  This  room  is  orna- 
mented with  no  chiseled  marble,  nor  are  its  walls  fres- 
coed by  the  hand  of  old  masters.  The  windows  are 
small  and  low,  and  the  plaster  yellow  with  age  and 
smoke.  Yet  this  humble  room  has  seen  greater  tri- 
umphs than  any  of  those  which  adorn  the  galleries  of 
art,  or  are  celebrated  in  the  monuments  of  the  streets. 


286  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

It  has  seen  triumphs  of  toil  and  of  genius  which  have 
not  merely  made  one  man  famous,  but  have  also  made 
millions  comfortable  and  happy.  It  has  seen  triumphs 
which  have  not  filled  long  trenches  with  the  dead  and 
huge  hospitals  with  the  wounded,  but  triumphs  which 
have  made  fields  of  peace  fertile,  and  filled  granaries  to 
the  top. 

It  is  the  laboratory  of  Justus  von  Liebig,  the  founder 
of  agricultural  chemistry,  the  benefactor  of  his  age. 
Liebig  himself  is  dead,  but  I  seem  to  stand  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  great  genius,  and  to  feel  the  inspiration  of 
his  wonderful  industry  and  application.  There  is  no 
other  one  place  in  the  world  which  illustrates  so  con- 
vincingly the  intimate  relation  existing  between  prac- 
tical science  and  rational  agriculture. 

The  work  so  splendidly  begun  by  Liebig  has  not  been 
allowed  to  languish  with  his  death.  Problems  which 
he  left  unfinished  have  since  been  solved  and  new  ques- 
tions have  been  asked,  which  are  now  answering  from 
a  hundred  experimental  stations.  Chemistry  has  the 
same  vital  relation  to  agriculture  that ,  anatomy  and 
physiology  have  to  medicine.  The  alleged  surgeon 
who  does  not  know  the  locality  of  the  heart  is  no  more 
at  sea  in  his  practice  than  the  farmer  who  does  not  have 
at  least  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  soils, 
fertilizers,  and  crops.  Ignorance  of  these  things  is  not 
bliss,  it  is  crime. 

METEOROLOGY. 

Another  intimate  relation  of  science  to  agricultural 
industry  is  found  in  the  science  of  the  weather. 

Next  to  the  soil,  climate  and  the  weather  are  the 
most  important  factors  which  enter  into  the  agricul- 
tural problem.  The  science  which  studies  these  phe- 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      287 

nomena,  discloses  the  laws  which  govern  them,  and 
foretells  their  occurrence,  is  called  meteorology.  The 
weather  not  only  makes  crops,  but  it  may  also  ruin  them. 
To  be  able  to  know  the  state  of  the  weather  forty-eight, 
or  even  twenty-four,  hours  in  advance  would  save  many 
a  dollar  annually  to  every  farmer.  It  is  true  that  an 
ancient  writer  has  said,  "  In  the  morning  sow  thy  seed, 
and  in  the  evening  withhold  not  thy  hand."  But  we 
must  remember  this  was  written  before  the  days  of 
the  signal  service  and  modern  science.  The  farmer, 
warned  of  an  approaching  storm,  would  not  cut  down 
six  acres  of  grass  in  the  morning  to  have  it  soaked  with 
rain  in  the  afternoon.  With  forty-eight  hours'  warn- 
ing he  could  complete  the  planting  of  a  field  before  the 
rain,  instead  of  having  to  leave  off  in  the  middle  of 
the  work  and  then  leave  the  other  half  without  the 
benefit  of  the  rain.  With  such  a  warning  he  could  se- 
cure a  field  of  ripened  wheat  and  save  it  from  being 
prostrated  by  the  wind  or  torn  in  shreds  by  the  hail. 
In  fact  there  is  scarcely  a  farm  process  that  would  not 
be  better  done  or  more  timely  done  could  the  state  of 
the  weather  be  known  in  advance.  The  ancients  fully 
realized  the  importance  of  this  matter.  That  agricul- 
tural poet,  Virgil,  thus  advised  the  Koman  farmers: 
"  But  before  we  cut  up  the  unknown  plain  with  the 
plow,  let  us  be  careful  to  foretell  the  winds  and  the 
varied  manner  of  the  weather." 

As  in  ancient  times  so  still  do  we  gain  a  good  idea 
of  the  coming  weather  by  observing  the  moon  and  sun, 
wind  and  cloud.  Farmers  now  as  then  "  pray  for  moist 
summers  and  dry  winters.  Corn  is  made  joyous  and 
the  field  glad  in  the  wintry  dust."  A  circle  round 
the  sun  "  betokens  a  great  storm  for  farmers  and  for 
the  sea."  Before  sunrise  rays  shooting  up  through  the 


288          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

clouds  indicate  hail.  "  If  the  sun  is  spotted  on  rising 
or  especially  if  half  his  disc  be  hidden  by  a  cloud,  a 
showery  day  may  be  expected." 

"  An  azure  color  of  the  sky  at  sunset  threatens  rain." 
"  A  spotted  sunset  warns  of  storms."  "  If  the  sun 
both  rise  and  set  clear  you  need  not  be  frightened  by 
clouds  during  the  day."  Such  are  some  of  the  indi- 
cations which  Virgil  tells  us  were  derived  from  the 
sun. 

Respecting  the  moon,  we  learn  from  the  same  author 
that  a  red  color  of  the  moon  indicates  wind. 

If  the  new  moon  rose  and  set  clear  on  the  fourth  day 
all  that  month  would  be  pleasant  and  free  from  rain. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  many  of  the  signs  of  the  weather 
which  were  relied  on  two  thousand  years  ago  are  still 
considered  valid  at  the  present  day.  We  are  still  able 
to  judge  by  the  sun,  the  wind,  the  cloud,  and  the  rain- 
bow, while  all  of  you  have  heard  the  weather-wise  pre- 
dict the  weather  for  the  month  from  the  appearance  of 
the  new  moon  about  the  fourth  day,  just  as  was  done 
so  long  ago.  We  must  remember,  however,  that  it  is 
still  now,  as  it  was  then,  somewhat  uncertain  to  prophesy 
from  these  phenomena,  either  singly  or  collectively ;  and 
especially  is  it  likely  that  "  all  signs  will  fail  in  dry 
weather." 

Quite  in  contrast  with  the  interest  exhibited  by  the 
Romans  in  this  matter  was  the  apathy  which  prevailed 
no  more  than  forty  years  ago.  Speaking  of  this  topic 
and  that  time,  Liebig  says :  "  No  attention  was  paid 
to  the  latitude  of  the  place,  its  height  above  the  sea, 
the  yearly  mean  of  rain-fall,  the  rain-fall  of  different 
seasons  of  the  year,  the  respective  number  of  fair  and 
cloudy  days,  the  mean  temperature  of  the  year  and  of 
the  different  seasons,  the  extremes  of  temperature;  no 


TESTING    THE    SIZE    OK    THE    OATS 
'My  first  oat  crop  averaging  57  bushels  per  acre" 


THK    01,1)    FAKM-IIOl'HE 

"I  found  no  ..inii.irv  i-iiiivi-nirnccs  fur  man  ur  (.•  .i-t' 


TRUE  RELATION  OP  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      289 

regard  was  had  for  the  physical,  chemical,  and  gee-gnos- 
tic properties  of  the  soil." 

GROWTH    OF    WEATHER    OBSERVATION. 

Since  the  time  spoken  of  by  Liebig,  however,  a 
revolution  has  taken  place  in  respect  of  these  things. 
Every  civilized  Government  has  instituted  a  thorough 
system  of  meteorological  observations  taken  at  different 
stations  and  representing  the  mean  of  the  whole  coun- 
try. These  observations,  it  is  true,  were  first  under- 
taken for  the  benefit  of  commerce,  but  they  are  far  more 
likely  in  the  end  to  prove  a  greater  benefit  to  farmers. 
As  a  result  of  this,  agricultural  stations  generally  have 
undertaken  a  similar  series  of  observations,  whose  data 
can  be  added  to  -those  of  the  Signal  Service  proper. 
And  here  I  will  say  with  as  much  emphasis  as  plain 
statement  can  imply,  that  I  regard  the  predictions  of 
the  so-called  weather  prophets  as  too  preposterous  to 
merit  contradiction.  And  yet  these  vagaries  of  mono- 
maniacs receive  a  quite  general  credence.  People 
might  just  as  well  pin  their  meteorological  faith  to  the 
predictions  of  the  Patent  Medicine  Almanac.  But  it 
is  quite  different  with  a  scientifically  conducted  signal 
service.  The  area  of  low  pressure  ascertained  from  the 
various  parts  of  the  country  shows  the  direction  of  the 
winds.  The  telegraph  also  shows  in  what  direction 
these  areas  are  moving,  and  the  anemometer  tells  the 
rate  of  their  progress.  These  data,  in  connection  with 
the  temperature,  the  season  of  the  year,  and  the  degree 
of  saturation  of  the  air  furnished  by  the  hygrometer, 
give  almost  absolute  data  for  predicting  the  kind  of 
weather,  when  no  unheralded  conditions  serve  to  change 
probable  environment. 


290  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

TBANSFEB    OP    WEATHER    OBSERVATIONS   FEOM    THE 
SIGNAL    SEEVICE. 

We  should  remember,  too,  that  the  Signal  Service 
is  still  in  its  infancy,  and  that  the  maximum  of  scien- 
tific skill  has  by  no  means  been  reached  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  its  data.  But  in  spite  of  its  infancy  and 
consequent  lack  of  perfection,  its  predictions  are  already 
quite  reliable  and  receive  everywhere  a  due  amount  of 
credence. 

It  is  true,  also,  that  storms  which  are  vast  in  extent 
can  be  more  certainly  and  sooner  predicted  than  those 
merely  local.  But  with  the  increase  of  signal  stations 
even  the  latter  will  be  foretold  with  almost  absolute  cer- 
tainty. 

Then  the  next  difficulty  which  science  has  to  remove 
will  be  the  one  connected  with  the  distribution  of  these 
indications  among  farming  communities.  The  mer- 
chant in  the  city,  at  breakfast,  glances  at  the  indica- 
tions in  his  morning  paper,  and,  in  accordance  with 
their  predictions,  either  takes  his  umbrella  to  his  office 
with  him  or  else  leaves  it  at  home.  But  the  farmer  in 
the  country  has  not  this  opportunity  of  deciding  whether 
to  cut  his  field  of  clover  or  not  in  the  morning,  with 
the  expectation  of  getting  the  product  under  cover  be- 
fore night.  This  is  not  a  proper  place  to  discuss  the 
means  by  which  this  information  is  to  be  conveyed.  It 
could  be  easily  done  by  the  telephone  and  fourth  of 
July  flagstaff.  Danger  signals  of  an  approaching  storm 
could  easily  be  placed  so  that  they  could  be  seen  by 
every  farmer  before  beginning  his  day's  work.  Or  in- 
stead of  the  flagstaff,  signal  guns  might  be  employed, 
and  gunpowder  and  cannon  thus  be  trained  to  serve 
the  arts  of  peace  instead  of  the  furies  of  war.  It  will 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      291 

be  enough  to  affirm  now  that  whenever  the  Government 
sees  fit  to  go  to  even  a  moderate  outlay,  science  stands 
ready  to  put  every  farmer  in  the  country  en  rapport 
with  the  Signal  Office  in  Washington. 

And  since  it  thus  appears  that  the  Signal  Service 
is  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  that  industry  which  raises 
our  crops,  and  the  one  that  carries  them  beyond  the 
sea,  cannot  one  pardon  a  suspicion  that  the  Signal 
Service  might  do  better  under  the  peaceful  flag  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  than  beneath  the  red  and 
raging  banner  of  the  War  Office  ?  But  this  is  a  thought 
which  must  only  be  whispered  in  desert  places,  in  tones 
as  tremulous  as  the  timidity  with  which  it  is  now  sug- 
gested. 

BIOLOGY. 

That  part  of  biology  which  I  shall  mention  as  pe- 
culiarly beneficial  to  agriculture  has  reference  to  the 
study  of  domesticated  and  useful  animals  and  plants, 
and  the  laws  of  their  variation  and  improvement.  I  am 
aware  that  this  theme,  in  a  strictly  etymological  sense, 
does  not  fall  under  the  head  of  agriculture;  but,  by 
immemorial  usage,  it  has  become  a  part  of  agriculture, 
since  every  farmer  makes  use  of  animals  in  doing  the 
work  of  his  farm,  and  is  also,  to  a  greater  or  less  ex- 
tent, a  keeper  of  herds  and  flocks.  Whatever,  there- 
fore, tends  to  improve  the  character  or  quality  of  his 
domesticated  animals  proves  of  immediate  or  ultimate 
advantage  to  the  farmer. 

In  this  way  the  science  of  biology  in  its  special 
branches  of  variation,  heredity,  and  natural  and  inten- 
tional selection  has  been  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  agri- 
culture. As  with  the  other  sciences,  so  with  this,  we 
believe  that  the  good  which  it  has  already  done  is  but  a 
beginning  of  what  it  will  eventually  accomplish. 


292  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

INFLUENCE    OF    HEBEDITY. 

Science  has  shown  that  every  species,  and  in  fact 
every  variety,  has  an  inherent  power  of  variability.  It 
thus  happens  that  the  individuals  of  the  same  species  or 
race,  while  they  have  a  close  resemblance  to  one  an- 
other, are  not  exactly  alike.  Even  the  offspring  of  the 
same  parents,  when  subjected  to  the  same  conditions  of 
existence,  as  in  the  case  of  twins  or  polygenesis,  are 
easily  distinguished  from  each  other.  This  variation 
from  the  type  may  be  greater  or  less ;  usually  it  is  very 
slight.  Sometimes  it  is  so  great  that  it  is  called  a 
monstrosity.  By  crossing  different  species,  to  produce 
hybrids,  as  in  the  case  of  mules  and  hinnies,  a  progeny 
is  produced  in  which  the  variation  from  the  parent 
forms  is  more  marked.  Hybrids  often  seem  to  possess 
characters  which  are  almost  a  mean  of  those  possessed 
by  their  parents,  while  often,  also,  by  a  certain  prepo- 
tency of  generative  force  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  pro- 
genitors, the  hybrid  is  attracted  to  one  or  the  other  of 
the  species  from  which  it  is  produced.  But  this  varia- 
bility in  animals  would  prove  of  little  use  to  man  were 
it  not  for  another  principle,  the  law  of  heredity,  which 
science  has  also  discovered  and  formulated.  While  it 
is  true  that  the  offspring  varies  more  or  less  from  the 
parent,  it  is  equally  true  and  equally  as  important  that 
there  is  also  a  greater  or  less  resemblance  between  them. 
From  this  it  happens  that  there  is  always  a  tendency 
for  the  parent  to  transmit  to  the  offspring  those  pe- 
culiarities which  are  its  distinguishing  marks.  Let  us 
combine  now  with  the  two  foregoing  principles,  viz., 
variability  and  heredity,  that  of  selection,  and  we  have 
the  basis  of  the  improvements  of  breeds,  upon  which 
every  scientific  farmer  acts.  Science,  in  the  last  few 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      293 

years,  has,  as  thoroughly  as  time  and  opportunity  have 
permitted,  investigated  the  phenomena  of  variability, 
heredity,  and  selection,  and  as  a  result  the  practical 
man  has  now  at  his  disposal  a  vast  array  of  facts,  which, 
a  few  years  ago,  were  wholly  unknown  to  him. 

IMPORTANCE    OF   VARIATION. 

Many  of  the  causes  of  variation  have  been  discovered. 
Chief  among  these  known  causes  are  climate  and  condi- 
tions of  life.  Thus  meteorology  again  comes  into  play 
as  an  important  factor  in  practical  agriculture.  Oth- 
ers are  still  unknown,  but  we  do  not  despair  of  the  dis- 
covery of  many  of  these.  Heredity  is  a  natural  prin- 
ciple so  well  known  that  we  are  astonished  only  when  it 
fails  to  act.  But  science  has  done  much  to  sort  out  and 
arrange  the  facts  connected  with  its  phenomena,  al- 
though its  laws  have  not  yet  been  formulated.  Science 
has  shown  that  selection  is  a  universal  principle,  and 
that  it  is  of  two  kinds,  natural  and  conscious,  though  it 
is  not  implied  by  this  classification  that  conscious  se- 
lection is  unnatural.  A  good  general  example  of  con- 
scious selection  is  the  well-known  fact  that  breeders  gen- 
erally keep  the  finest  animals  for  breeding  purposes, 
and  thus  keep  their  animals  up  to  a  high  degree  of  per- 
fection. In  this  way  science,  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously, continually  improves  the  condition  of  ani- 
mals. 

A  few  examples,  illustrating  the  topic  under  consid- 
eration, will  servo  better  than  any  argument  of  my  own 
to  show  what  science  may  thus  accomplish. 

EXAMPLES   OF    VARIABILITY,    SELECTION,    AND 
HEREDITY. 

In  the  horse,  conditions  of  life  and  climate  produce 
the  greatest  variations.  Mr.  Charles  Darwin,  in  his 


294  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

classical  work  on  variation  of  domestic  animals,  gives 
some  curious  instances.  Horses  become  "  greatly  re- 
duced in  size  and  altered  in  appearance  by  living  on 
mountains  and  islands,  and  this  is  due  apparently  to 
want  of  nutritious  or  varied  food."  The  horse  can 
stand  great  cold.  He  is  found  wild  in  Siberia,  as  far 
north  as  fifty-six  degrees;  also,  where  it  is  very  hot  the 
horse  flourishes,  as  in  Arabia  and  Africa.  A  very  moist 
climate  seems  to  be  more  injurious  to  the  horse  than 
extreme  heat  or  cold. 

The  English  race-horse  shows  the  effects  of  selection. 
These  horses  are  descendants  from  the  mingling  of  three 
races,  called  Arabs,  Turks,  and  Barbs.  Yet  the  im- 
provement in  these  horses  has  been  so  marked  that  when 
descendants  from  the  same  stock  of  the  first  generation 
compete  in  the  races,  they  are  always  allowed  certain 
odds.  As  an  example  of  heredity  in  racers  may  be 
mentioned  "  King  Herod,"  who  gained  in  prizes  a  mil- 
lion dollars,  and  was  the  father  of  four  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  winners.  "  Eclipse,"  another  great  racer, 
was  the  father  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-four  win- 
ners. A  German  writer  has  asserted  that  there  is  not 
a  successful  racer  on  the  continent  of  Europe  which  has 
not  English  blood  in  his  veins. 

With  respect  to  sheep  equally  as  valuable  data  have 
been  collected.  Quatref ages  says :  "  Our  [French] 
sheep  on  being  transferred  to  America  generally  become 
acclimatized  without  undergoing  great  change.  Their 
fleece,  particularly,  is  retained.  But  on  the  plains  of 
the  Meta  it  is  only  retained  on  condition  of  the  sheep 
being  regularly  shorn.  If  they  are  left  to  themselves 
the  wool  becomes  of  a  felty  nature,  is  detached  in  flakes, 
and  is  replaced  by  a  short,  stiff,  and  shining  hair.  Un- 
der the  influence  of  this  burning  climate  the  same  indi- 


TRUE  RELATION  OP  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      295 

vidual  is  in  turn  a  woolly  and  a  hairy  animal."  A 
cold  climate  even  is  capable  of  producing  wool  on  ani- 
mals which  naturally  do  not  have  it.  Some  "  pigs  with 
fleece  are  found  in  the  cold  plateaus  of  the  Cordilleras ; 
sheep  with  hair  in  the  warm  valleys  of  the  Madeleine, 
and  hairless  cattle  on  the  burning  plains  of  Mara- 
quita."  In  the  East  there  is  a  remarkable  variation 
in  sheep,  by  which  a  race  has  been  formed  by  selections 
in  which  the  tail  is  very  long  and  deeply  laid  with  fat, 
which  is  considered  a  great  delicacy.  "  So  highly  prized 
is  this  character  that  the  animals  are  furnished  with 
trucks  on  which  they  drag  their  precious  tails  about 
from  place  to  place."  The  differences  in  the  texture 
of  the  wool,  which  make  some  races,  like  the  pure  Meri- 
nos, so  valuable,  have  arisen  by  the  combined  influences 
of  climate,  heredity,  and  selection,  and  it  is  only  by  the 
most  careful  attention  to  selection  that  the  fineness  of 
the  wool  can  be  retained  in  other  than  the  same  climates 
in  which  it  was  at  first  produced.  A  remarkable  in- 
stance of  variation,  which  by  heredity  and  selection  was 
made  to  produce  a  new  race,  took  place  in  our  own  coun- 
try. "  In  1791  a  ram  lamb  was  born  in  Massachu- 
setts having  short,  crooked  legs  and  a  long  back  like 
a  turnspit  dog.  From  this  one  lamb  the  otter  or  Ancon 
semi-monstrous  breed  was  raised.  As  these  sheep  could 
not  leap  over  the  fences,  it  was  supposed  they  would  be 
valuable."  This  breed,  developed  by  selection,  trans- 
mitted its  character  so  perfectly  that  Colonel  Hum- 
phreys, who  made  a  special  study  of  it,  never  heard  of 
but  "  one  questionable  case."  When  the  Ancons  were 
placed  in  with  other  sheep  they  would  keep  together, 
gradually  separating  themselves  from  the  rest  of  the 
flock. 

Another  instance,  also  cited  by  Darwin,  relates  to 


296          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

the  formation  of  the  Mauchamp  breed.  In  the  year 
1828  a  Merino  ram  lamb  was  born  in  France  which 
was  remarkable  for  its  long,  smooth,  straight,  and  silky 
wool. 

In  1833  M.  Graux,  the  owner  of  the  lamb,  had  raised 
enough  to  serve  his  whole  flock,  and  in  a  few  years 
more  he  was  able  to  sell  stock  of  his  new  breed.  The 
wool  is  regarded  so  highly  that  it  brings  25  per  cent, 
more  in  the  market  than  the  best  pure  Merino. 

Variation  also  frequently  manifests  itself  by  produc- 
ing changes  in  the  functions  of  the  animal's  body  or 
some  of  its  parts.  These  changes  are  mostly  due  to 
climate  influences. 

The  Egyptian  goose  brought  to  France  in  1841  by 
Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  according  to  Quatrefages,  is  a 
striking  example  of  this.  "  At  first  this  bird  laid  its 
eggs  in  December,  as  in  its  native  country.  It  raised 
its  brood  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and,  consequently,  un- 
der very  unfavorable  circumstances.  In  1844  the  birds 
began  to  lay  in  February;  in  1845  in  March,  and  in 
1846  in  April,  at  the  same  time  as  the  native  goose." 
Sometimes  instead  of  climate  other  forces  are  active  in 
producing  similar  results.  The  same  author  states  that 
"  the  wild  sow  litters  but  once  a  year  and  with  only  six 
or  eight  young,  but  when  domesticated  litters  twice  a 
year  with  from  ten  to  fifteen  pigs.  The  fecundity  of  the 
Indian  pig  is  seven  times  as  great  under  domestication 
as  in  a  wild  state." 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  animals  which  ap- 
pear to  be  less  fruitful  when  tamed  than  when  in  the 
wild  state. 

I  will  not  multiply  these  examples  further.  Those 
who  feel  like  pursuing  the  subject  will  find  abundance 
of  material,  collected  from  many  classes  of  animals  and 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      297 

different  parts  of  the  world,  in  Darwin's  work,  to  which 
I  have  already  referred. 

These  examples  show  what  good  results  can  be  accom- 
plished by  paying  strict  attention  to  the  laws  which 
science  has  already  discovered,  and  what  progress  we 
may  expect  from  further  investigations  in  the  same 
line.  There  seems  to  be  no  more  promising  field  for 
developing  the  relation,  of  science  to  agriculture  than 
in  the  one  at  which  we  have  just  taken  a  glance. 
A  long  series  of  carefully  conducted  scientific  experi- 
ments will  still  be  needed  before  we  are  able  to  de- 
termine what  sheep  will  give  the  best  wool  in  our  cli- 
mate, what  cows  the  best  milk,  and  what  hogs  the  best 
pork. 

In  fact  there  is  not  a  single  domesticated  animal 
which,  by  careful  attention  to  variation  and  careful 
crossing  and  selection,  may  not  have  its  nature  better 
adapted  to  our  climate,  and  thus  become  more  profita- 
ble to  the  farmer.  It  is  a  good  work  and  worthy  of 
diligent  prosecution. 

BOTANY. 

The  science  of  botany  is  justly  regarded  as  having 
a  very  intimate  relation  to  agriculture.  I  have  already 
indicated  in  a  previous  part  of  this  paper  how  a 
botanist  may  be  of  great  use  in  an  experimental  station 
in  the  examination  of  seeds.  In  the  seeds  of  varieties, 
for  example,  nearly  allied  to  each  other,  the  seed  may 
be  so  nearly  alike  that  a  skilled  botanist  will  be  required 
to  detect  the  difference. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  similarity,  the  unprinci- 
pled seller  may  mix  the  seed  of  a  comparatively  worth- 
less variety  with  one  which  is  highly  esteemed  and  sell 
the  mixture  for  the  best  seed.  Just  as  often  a  dis- 


298  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

"  honest "  grocer  will  mix  coffee  at  thirty  cents  with 
coffee  at  forty  cents,  and  sell  the  mixture  for  fifty  cents 
a  pound. 

But  the  usefulness  of  botany  to  agriculture  is  not 
limited  by  the  examination  of  seeds.  It  extends  to  a 
much  wider  field  of  activity. 

All  I  have  said  of  the  variability,  heredity,  crossing, 
and  selection  in  animals  is  equally  true  of  plants.  I 
will,  therefore,  not  repeat  here  the  course  of  reasoning 
used  to  show  the  usefulness  of  a  scientific  knowledge  of 
these  principles  to  the  farmer.  I  will  only  say  that  as 
the  farmer  has  to  deal  rather  with  plants  than  animals, 
the  arguments  have  proportionately  the  greater  weight 
here. 

To  variations  and  selections,  crossing  and  heredity 
we  are  indebted  for  all  the  different  varieties  of  the 
cereals  and  other  plants  which  make  them  so  well 
adapted  to  the  different  countries  and  climates  in  which 
they  grow.  As  in  the  case  of  animals,  I  can  best  illus- 
trate this  by  a  few  examples. 

VARIATION,  ETC;,  IN  WHEAT. 

Quatref  ages  relates  that  "  the  Abbe  Tessier  sowed 
autumn  wheat  in  the  spring.  Of  a  hundred  seeds  which 
germinated  only  four  ripened  their  seed.  One  hundred 
seeds  of  this  crop  (also  sown  in  the  spring)  produced 
fifty  fertile  plants.  In  the  third  generation  the  whole 
hundred  seeds  ripened.  An  inverse  experiment  pro- 
duced similar  results." 

The  fact  that  good  seed  tends  to  produce  good  crops 
has  been  known  from  the  earliest  times.  Darwin  states 
that  the  careful  selection  of  seed-corn  was  recommended 
in  ancient  times  by  Calumella  and  Celsus,  and  espe- 
cially Virgil,  who  says  in  his  Georgics : 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      298 

I  've  seen  the  largest  seeds  tho'  viewed  with  care 
Degenerate  unless  th'  industrious  hand 
Did  yearly  cull  the  largest. 

Wheat  has  been  cultivated  from  the  remotest  an- 
tiquity, and  without  doubt  the  principles  of  selection 
have  been  practised  from  the  first.  It  is  thus  probable 
that  the  limit  of  perfection,  as  far  as  selection  is  con- 
cerned, has  long  since  been  reached. 

The  chief  value  of  selections,  therefore,  at  the  present 
time,  is  to  preserve  the  high  standard  reached,  while 
the  botanist  and  experimenter  must  depend  on  cross- 
ing and  accidental  variations  for  the  genesis  of  new 
varieties  better  suited  to  any  given  conditions  of  life. 
Nevertheless,  existing  varieties  can  be  gradually  ac- 
climatized when  taken  to  a  strange  country.  In  Sierra 
Leone  when  wheat  was  first  sown  it  nearly  all  ran  to 
leaf.  The  ears  were  few  and  poorly  filled.  When  the 
seeds  of  this  crop  were  sown  many  failed  to  germinate, 
but  others  grew  and  were  much  more  fertile  than  the 
first  crop.  After  a  few  years  the  wheat  became  as  fer- 
tile as  in  its  native  country. 

Another  striking  illustration  of  the  effect  of  accli- 
matization in  plants  is  afforded  by  the  chrysanthemum. 
This  plant,  which  is  now  so  commonly  seen,  came 
originally  from  China.  "  Introduced  into  France  in 
1790,  it  flourished  there  and  produced  fruit  which  it 
was  unable  to  ripen,  so  that  commerce  alone  supplied 
gardeners  with  the  necessary  seed  for  more  than  sixty 
years.  In  1852  a  few  plants  were  observed  to  flower 
and  to  fruit  sooner  than  the  others.  The  seed  ripened, 
and  France  now  produces  all  the  seed  which  she  re- 
quires." 

Variation  in  the  one  species  of  cabbage  has  been  most 
remarkable.  By  careful  selection  nearly  fifty  races 


300  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

have  been  produced  and  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty 
varieties,  extending  all  the  way  from  the  full-headed 
kind  to  the  cauliflower. 

In  high  northern  regions  the  summers  are  short  and 
the  days  long,  and  all  kinds  of  crops  grow  there  faster 
than  in  temperate  climates,  where  the  days  are  shorter 
and  the  summers  longer. 

In  south  Germany  barley  will  grow  and  ripen  in 
four  and  a  half  to  five  months;  while  in  Lapland  and 
Finland  the  same  process  is  accomplished  in  two  months. 

Our  common  corn,  as  is  well  known,  in  Minnesota 
has  six  weeks  less  time  to  mature  than  in  Southern 
Indiana  and  Kentucky,  yet  it  soon  adapts  itself  to  the 
changed  conditions.  But  if  seed  were  taken  from  Ken- 
tucky and  planted  in  Minnesota  but  few  stalks  would 
mature  their  seed  the  first  year.  Perhaps  three  or  four 
years  would  be  required  for  it  to  become  perfectly  ac- 
climated. Thus,  by  easy  inference,  we  see  that  where 
it  is  feared  that  frost  will  come  too  early  in  the  fall 
it  would  be  wise  in  the  farmer  to  bring  his  seed  each 
year  from  the  North,  and  thus  grow  a  crop  which  will 
ripen  two  or  three  weeks  sooner  than  the  acclimated 
plants. 

By  thoroughly  trying  experiments  like  these  at  our 
agricultural  stations,  botany  may  prove  of  immense  ad- 
vantage to  the  farmers  of  the  country. 

But  I  will  not  attempt  here  to  show  all  the  relations 
which  botany  holds  to  agriculture.  There  are  a  dozen 
directions  in  which  its  lines  of  useful  force  operate,  and 
it  would  be  wiser  to  leave  a  complete  exposition  of  the 
subject  to  the  professional  botanist,  who  would  bring  to 
the  task  a  richness  of  knowledge  and  facility  of  expres- 
sion which  would  place  the  subject  in  a  much  stronger 
setting  than  I  have  been  able  to  give  it 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      301 
ENTOMOLOGY. 

One  of  the  numerous  difficulties  which  adds  to  the 
burdens  of  the  agriculturist  is  the  fight  which  he  is  con- 
stantly carrying  on  against  injurious  insects.  Almost 
every  year  he  is  compelled  to  engage  in  an  unequal 
contest  with  the  potato  bug,  the  Hessian  fly,  the 
weevil,  the  caterpillar,  and  the  borers  of  his  fruit  trees, 
while  at  intervals  the  locust,  the  army-worm,  and  the 
grasshopper  pour  over  his  fields  with  resistless  power. 
It  is  the  province  of  the  entomologist  to  study  the  habits 
and  methods  of  reproduction  of  these  injurious  insects, 
and  to  provide  some  way  to  arrest  their  almost  marvel- 
ous fertility. 

Much  has  already  been  accomplished  in  this  direc- 
tion, but  much  more  remains  to  be  done.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  it  is  useless  for  a  farmer  to  fight  potato  bugs 
in  his  field,  while  they  are  left  to  increase  unmolested 
in  the  field  of  his  neighbor.  Action  against  insects  must 
be  concerted  and  intelligent  to  be  effective.  Bush- 
whacking and  guerrilla  warfare  can  never  accomplish 
anything  more  than  a  local  result.  The  campaign,  to 
be  effective,  must  be  regular,  with  full  equipments  and 
a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  ground  to  be  fought  over 
and  the  number  and  disposition  of  the  forces  of  the 
enemy. 

The  farmer  looks  to  the  entomologist  to  direct  him 
in  the  campaign  and  furnish  him  all  needful  informa- 
tion. 

With  such  scientific  aid  he  should  not  despair  of  even- 
tually freeing  his  fields  of  these  insignificant  but  de- 
structive pests  which  now  cause  him  so  much  loss  and 
trouble. 

These  are  only  a  few  instances  of  the  true  rela- 


302  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

tion  science  bears  to  one  industry.  The  argument 
becomes  cumulative  as  other  industries  are  considered 
and  other  ties  which  connect  them  to  science  are  dis- 
covered. 

In  these  illustrations  peculiar  emphasis  has  been 
given  to  the  real  monetary  value  of  science  in  the  in- 
dustry. And  say  what  we  will,  this  is  the  measure 
which  is  the  final  test  of  all  value  in  every  industry. 
What  does  not  pay,  at  once  or  ultimately,  will  never 
find  a  lasting  place.  This  does  not  arise  from  the  fact 
that  men  are  wholly  mercenary,  but  happily  from  the 
fact  that  nature  is  so  constituted  that  it  is  the  best  that 
always  in  the  long  run  pays  best. 

TEUE  PLEASUKE  ALWAYS  MOKAL. 

Herbert  Spencer  has  shown,  in  his  admirable  system 
of  philosophy,  that  pleasure  is  the  ultimate  test  of  all 
virtue,  morality  and  right  living.  What  we  call  virtue, 
morality  and  right  living,  are  really  so  because  they 
confer  finally  on  men  the  greatest  happiness  and  afford 
them  the  greatest  pleasure. 

If  a  life  of  vice  were  at  once  and  ultimately  capable 
of  producing  greater  pleasures,  then  vice  would  become 
virtue  and  virtue  vice.  And  the  same  principle  will  be 
found  underlying  the  industries  and  arts. 

Those  influences  and  conditions  which  at  once  or 
finally  bring  forth  most  from  any  given  outlay  of  capi- 
tal and  labor,  are  the  conditions  and  influences  which 
are  right  and  proper. 

Science  shows  here  its  most  intimate  relations  to 
every  industry.  It  is  its  peculiar  province  to  husband 
all  natural  resources,  to  make  the  most  out  of  every 
exercise  of  energy,  to  direct  in  the  right  path  every 
budding  enterprise,  and  to  open  up  new  possibilities 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES     303 

and  secure  new  achievements  in  every  form  of  organ- 
ized labor. 

DIFFUSION    OF    SCIENTIFIC    TEUTH. 

It  would  be,  however,  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that 
science  has  no  other  relation  whatever  to  industries  and 
arts  aside  from  what  is  purely  financial.  There  are 
indeed  other  true  relations  scarcely  less  important, 
which  should  be  honored  at  least  with  some  attention. 

True  science  is  eminently  suited  to  diffuse  general 
information  among  those  actively  engaged  in  the  vari- 
ous industries.  Anything  which  tends  to  impart  useful 
information  to  those  engaged  in  active  labor,  cannot 
fail  of  having  an  important  effect  on  the  industry  itself. 

To  one  pursuing  any  vocation  of  skill,  there  is  danger 
of  falling  into  grooves.  It  is  sometimes  hard  to  see 
beyond  the  confines  of  self-work  and  self-interest. 
That  which  concerns  the  laborer  himself  in  the  peculiar 
exercise  of  his  trade,  is  apt  to  be  the  only  thing  which 
will  excite  his  attention  and  hold  his  interest 

But  a  narrowness  of  view  like  this,  is  apt  to  beget 
prejudice,  selfishness  and  bigotry.  But  prejudice,  self- 
ishness and  bigotry  react  on  the  very  force  that  begets 
them  and  tend  to  destroy  both  themselves  and  the  in- 
dustry they  ostensibly  protect. 

One  great  function  of  science  is  to  prevent  such  a 
condition.  True  science  liberalizes  and  humanizes.  I 
do  not  mean  by  science,  mere  dogma  and  pretense  and 
hypothesis.  Many  condemn  science  without  knowing 
what  it  really  is.  However  plausible  a  theory  may  be, 
however  strong  the  arguments  which  sustain  an  hypoth- 
esis, yet  theory  and  hypothesis  are  not  science. 

I  am  far  from  denying  the  verisimilitude  of  many 
scientific  theories  and  hypotheses.  They  may  indeed 


304  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

prove,  and  often  do  prove,  of  great  benefit;  yet  it  is  a 
great  mistake  to  confound  these  with  science  itself  — 
i.e.,  as  already  said,  the  "  knowledge  of  matter  and  its 
laws." 

Science,  therefore,  educates  and  liberalizes  every 
trade  and  industry  and  art.  Its  cultivation  will 
broaden  the  views  of  the  people,  dispel  prejudice  and 
superstition,  remove  feelings  of  narrow  sectional  pride, 
and  make  the  whole  world  akin.  When  science  is  more 
broadly  diffused,  when  it  permeates  more  thoroughly 
the  industries  of  the  country,  then  there  will  be  an  end 
of  humbugs  and  crazes,  of  isms  and  oddities,  and  the 
reign  of  common  sense  will  supersede  the  reign  of  im- 
pulse and  ignorance. 

UNIVERSAL    TRAINING   NOT    POSSIBLE. 

I  understand  perfectly  well,  as  already  mentioned, 
that  it  is  quite  impossible  that  every  artisan  should  re- 
ceive a  complete  scientific  schooling.  However  desir- 
able such  a  thing  may  be,  it  is  too  Utopian  to  be  con- 
sidered here.  Every  farmer  of  the  future  will  not  be 
a  graduate  of  an  agricultural  college,  no  matter  if  they 
may  be  made  as  numerous  as  high  schools.  But  every 
farmer  may  feel  the  liberalizing  power  of  scientific 
knowledge,  and  doubtless  will  feel  it,  although  he  may 
be  unc'onscious  of  it.  He  cannot  shut  his  eyes  to  the 
light  which  is  abroad  in  the  land.  The  lowliest  slave 
will  feel  the  warmth  of  the  sun's  rays,  though  he  may 
not  know  that  the  sun's  atmosphere  contains  sodium 
vapor.  And  thus  it  is  with  all  kinds  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge. Science  will  warm  and  vivify  the  whole  world, 
though  many  may  remain  unconscious  of  the  source  of 
the  new  life  which  springs  up  within  them. 

No  one  can  calculate  the  ponderous  power  for  good 


TRUE  RELATION  OF  SCIENCE  TO  INDUSTRIES      305 

which  such  influences  will  exert  and  do  exert  on  the 
industries  of  the  land,  and  that,  too,  aside  from  any 
idea  of  increased  monetary  value. 

LOVE  AOT>  REVERENCE  FOR  THE  TRUTH. 

Science,  while  it  reveals  the  constitution  of  matter 
and  makes  known  the  laws  of  its  change,  inculcates  at 
the  same  time  a  love  and  reverence  for  the  truth.  No 
one  can  study  carefully  the  inviolable  verities  of  nature 
without  realizing  that  truth  is  the  only  thing  which  can 
endure. 

Science  can  neither  he  cajoled,  threatened  nor  bribed. 
Science  never  lies  and  is  never  deceived  by  a  lie.  No 
boy  can  go  through  with  the  simplest  exercise  in  chem- 
ical quantitative  analysis,  and  not  have  his  moral  na- 
ture strengthened  thereby.  Eeverence  for  the  truth, 
hatred  of  error;  these  are  two  ideas  which  are  always 
uppermost  in  the  scientific  mind.  While,  therefore, 
science  spreads  information,  it  also  teaches  morality. 
When  every  industry  and  art  are  fully  imbued  with 
these  two  ideas  they  will  not  only  attain  their  maximum 
value  as  wealth-producers,  but  also  become  the  most 
potent  factors  of  happiness-making  in  the  world.  And 
every  one  wishes  to  see  this.  Honest  industries,  skilled 
arts,  honest  laborers,  skilled  artisans;  these  are  the 
pride  and  the  salvation  of  the  country. 

I  have  not  time  to  discuss  this  subject  further.  At 
the  very  beginning  I  was  oppressed  with  the  thought 
that  in  one  short  essay  I  could  not  more  than  make  a 
fair  introduction  of  the  subject.  I  repeat  the  thought 
in  closing  with  which  I  began :  Science  is  the  mother 
of  industries  and  arts.  She  is  the  mother  who  brings 
them  forth,  and  it  is  always  parthenogenesis.  She  is 
the  mother  who  protects  them  in  the  years  of  their  help- 


306  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

less  infancy.  She  is  the  mother  who  instructs  them  in 
knowledge  and  morality,  and  finally  she  is  the  mother 
who  looks  upon  their  successes  with  loving  pride. 

With  such  influences  working  on  our  industries  and 
arts,  the  future  seems  bright  with  near  possibilities. 
We  see  our  industries  vivified  with  new  life  and  new 
usefulness.  We  see  them  liberalized  and  educated. 
We  see  them  permeated  with  love  of  truth  and  moral- 
ity. We  see  them  feeding  hundreds  of  millions  of  peo- 
ple at  home,  and  covering  the  seas  with  their  products. 
We  see  homes  made  happier  and  life  made  easier  to  the 
millions  of  toilers.  Labor  is  no  longer  a  mere  drudg- 
ery, but  a  constant  pleasure.  Knowledge  and  industry 
will  march  hand  in  hand  to  higher  usefulness  and 
higher  attainment,  and  in  these  happy  results  we  will 
see  realized  in  all  the  intimacy  of  their  kinship,  the 
"  true  relation  of  science  to  the  industries  and  arts." 


XXVIII 

UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE 

THE  constitution  of  the  State  of  Michigan  which 
was  adopted  in  1850  made  provision  for  an  agri- 
cultural school.  This  school  was  opened  in  1857,  and 
is  now  in  a  high  state  of  efficiency  and  prosperity. 
The  Pennsylvania  State  College,  which  is  essentially 
a  school  of  agriculture,  grew  out  of  The  Farmers'  High 
School,  which  was  incorporated  in  1854  and  opened  for 
students  in  185 9.  In  1856  the  legislature  of  Maryland 
incorporated  the  Maryland  Agricultural  College,  lo- 
cated almost  on  the  edge  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  in  the  same  year  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts 
issued  a  charter  to  the  trustees  of  the  Massachusetts 
School  of  Agriculture.  The  above  is  a  resume  of  the 
earliest  efforts  of  the  States  to  promote  agriculture  as 
a  distinct  science. 

VETOED    BY    PRESIDENT   BUCHANAN. 

Justin  S.   Morrill,  of  Vermont,  introduced  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  in 

1858,  a  bill  to  promote  education  in  agriculture  and 
the  mechanic  arts.     On  the  22d  of  April,  1858,  Mr. 
Merrill's  bill  was  adopted  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives by  the  close  vote  of  105  to  100.     On  February  7, 

1859,  the  Morrill  bill  passed  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  by  another  close  vote,  namely,  25  to  22.     Soon 
after  this  the  House  and  Senate  agreed  on  the  amcnd- 

307 


308  THE  LUKE  OP  THE  LAND 

ments  to  the  bill,  but  on  February  24th  James  Bu- 
chanan, President  of  the  United  States,  vetoed  the 
measure  on  the  ground  that  he  did  not  think  the  time 
was  opportune  and  that  the  possible  effect  which  it 
could  have  upon  the  relations  existing  between  the  fed- 
eral and  state  governments  was  of  doubtful  value,  and 
for  the  further  reason  that  he  doubted  the  power  of 
Congress  to  appropriate  money  for  education  in  the 
States,  and  therefore  in  his  opinion  the  aid  of  such 
education  by  means  of  a  land  grant  was  of  doubtful 
constitutionality. 

Mr.  Morrill,  however,  was  not  discouraged  by  this 
adverse  opinion  of  President  Buchanan.  In  view  of 
the  strained  relations  of  affairs  at  that  time,  due  to  the 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  and  the  uncertainty 
in  Mr.  Buchanan's  own  mind  about  what  should  be 
done  and  what  should  not  be  done,  it  was  not  strange 
that  he  refrained  from  approving  any  measure  which 
would,  even  by  implication,  invalidate  the  doctrine  of 
States'  rights.  While  the  theory  of  States'  rights  is 
still  held,  there  is  no  longer  any  disinclination  on  the 
part  of  any  of  the  States  to  receive  the  benefits  of  a 
federal  grant  of  money  for  any  purpose  whatever.  It 
is  the  old  question  of  "  What  is  the  constitution  among 
friends,"  when  an  appropriation  is  at  stake. 

APPEOVED    BY   PKESIDENT   LINCOLN". 

In  1861  Mr.  Morrill  introduced  into  the  House  of 
Representatives  practically  the  same  bill  which  had 
passed  before,  granting  30,000  acres  of  land  for  each 
member  of  Congress  for  the  establishment  of  colleges 
in  each  of  the  States,  and  on  the  2d  of  May,  1862, 
Senator  Wade,  of  Ohio,  introduced  a  similar  bill  in 
the  Senate.  Mr.  Merrill's  bill  was  reported  adversely 


HON.    N.    J.    COLEMAN 
First  Secretary  of  Agriculture 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE  309 

by  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  but  it  was  passed 
by  the  Senate  on  June  10th,  and  nine  days  later  by 
the  House  of  Representatives.  President  Lincoln 
made  the  bill  a  law  by  affixing  his  signature  July  2, 
1862.  Thus  the  name  of  Senator  Morrill  has  become 
indissolubly  connected  with  federal  aid  to  agricultural, 
mechanical  and  military  education. 

Twenty-eight  years  after  this  grant  of  Government 
lands  to  the  States  for  educational  purposes,  the  prin- 
ciple of  appropriating  money  directly  from  the  Treas- 
ury for  the  same  purpose  was  enacted  into  law.  This 
was  also  accomplished  largely  by  the  aid  of  Mr.  Mor- 
rill, who  had  then  become  a  Senator.  A  bill  appropri- 
ating money  for  such  service  was  approved  by 
President  Harrison  on  August  30,  1890.  Under  this 
act  the  sum  of  $15,000  a  year,  beginning  with  1890, 
and  an  increase  of  the  amount  of  such  appropriation 
for  ten  years  thereafter  by  an  additional  sum  of  $1,000, 
until  at  the  end  of  ten  years  the  total  appropriation 
should  become  $25,000  annually,  was  appropriated  to 
each  State. 

Meanwhile  efforts  were  made,  also,  to  support  from 
the  federal  treasury  the  experimental  work  of  agricul- 
ture in  the  various  States.  The  establishment  of  the 
colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  including  in- 
structions in  military  science,  was  a  powerful  stimulus 
looking  to  the  establishment  of  stations  for  conducting 
agricultural  experimental  work.  About  1883  a  bill 
granting  funds  from  the  federal  treasury  for  this  pur- 
pose was  introduced  by  Representative  Carpenter,  of 
Iowa,  but  failed  of  passage.  The  measure,  however, 
was  supported  by  the  agricultural  colleges  of  the  coun- 
try, and  subsequently  became  a  law.  Under  the  lead 
of  Mr.  Hatch,  of  Missouri,  a  bill  bearing  his  name 


310  THE  LUKE  OF  THE  LAND 

appropriated  $15,000  to  each  State  and  territory  out  of 
funds  proceeding  from  the  sale  of  public  lands  for  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  an  agricultural  ex- 
periment station,  as  a  department  of  the  land-grant 
colleges  established  under  the  act  of  1862.  This  act 
passed  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate, 
and  was  approved  by  President  Cleveland  on  the  2d  of 
March,  1887. 

BENEFITS    TO    THE    STATES. 

The  benefits  arising  from  the  establishment  of  agri- 
cultural experiment  stations  in  the  various  States  were 
of  such  a  patent  character  that  it  was  not  long  before 
increased  facilities  for  such  experimentation  were  pro- 
vided for  by  the  appropriation  of  federal  funds. 
Under  the  lead  of  Representative  Adams,  of  Wisconsin, 
an  act  was  finally  passed  providing  for  an  increased 
appropriation  over  that  established  by  the  Hatch  Act, 
namely,  $15,000  a  year.  The  Adams  Act  provided  for 
an  increase  of  $5,000  for  the  fiscal  year  of  1906,  in- 
creasing this  amount  by  $2,000  annually  until  the  total 
amount  reached  $15,000,  the  same  as  provided  for  in 
the  Hatch  Act.  Thus  the  total  amount  provided  for 
each  State  for  experimental  work  in  agriculture  from 
the  federal  treasury  is  now  $30,000  per  year.  The  act 
providing  for  this  increase  was  passed  on  the  16th  of 
March,  1906. 

PROMOTING   AGRICITLTTJBAI,   EDUCATION. 

Subsequently  a  successful  attempt  was  made  to  in- 
crease the  funds  available  for  agricultural  education  un- 
der the  lead  of  Senator  Nelson,  who  succeeded  in  intro- 
ducing an  amendment  to  the  agricultural  appropriation 
bill  which  provided  that  for  the  fiscal  year  1908  an  addi- 
tional $5;000  be  appropriated,  and  this  amount  be  in- 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE  311 

creased  by  $5,000  each  year  for  four  years,  thus  secur- 
ing for  each  State  a  sum  of  $25,000  in  addition  to  that 
carried  by  the  Second  Morrill  Act.  This  amendment 
also  contained  the  provision  "  that  said  colleges  may 
use  a  portion  of  this  money  for  providing  courses  for 
the  special  preparation  of  instructors  for  teaching  the 
elements  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts." 

The  total  amount  of  appropriations  of  the  federal 
government  for  the  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic 
arts  for  the  years  from  1890  to  1914,  are  as  follows: 

1890    $     660,000 

1891 704,000 

1892  782,000 

1893  864,000 

1894  912,000 

1895  960,000 

1896  1,008,000 

1897  1,056,000 

1898  1,104,000 

1899  1,152,000 

1900 1,200,000 

1901 1,200,000 

1902  1,200,000 

1903  1,200,000 

1904  1,200,000 

1905  1,200,000 

1906  1,200,000 

1907  1,200,000 

1908  1,500,000 

1909  1,750,000 

1910  2,000,000 

1911  2,250,000 

1912  2,500,000 

1913  2,500,000 

1914  2,500,000 


Total  $33,802,000 


312  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

The  last  contribution  of  the  national  government  to 
agricultural  education  has  been  made  under  an  Act  of 
Congress  approved  May  8,  1914,  granting  ten  thousand 
dollars  a  year  to  each  State  to  promote  agricultural  ex- 
tension work.  According  to  Section  2  of  this  act  the 
character  of  the  work  to  be  done  is  defined  as  follows: 

That  cooperative  agricultural  extension  work  shall  consist 
of  the  giving  of  instruction  and  practical  demonstration  in 
agriculture  and  home  economics  to  persons  not  attending  or 
resident  in  said  colleges  in  the  several  communities,  and  im- 
parting to  such  persons  information  on  said  subjects  through 
field  demonstrations,  publications,  and  otherwise;  and  this 
work  shall  be  carried  on  in  such  manner  as  may  be  mutually 
agreed  upon  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  and  the  State 
Agricultural  College  or  colleges  receiving  the  benefits  of  this 
Act. 

The  appropriation  of  $480,000  is  made  to  carry  the 
provisions  of  this  Act  into  execution.  This  sum  is  to 
be  increased,  year  by  year,  according  to  the  following 
provisions:  $600,000  for  the  second  year,  and  for 
each  following  year  a  sum  exceeding  by  $500,000  the 
sum  appropriated  for  each  preceding  year,  and  for  each 
year  thereafter  there  is  permanently  appropriated  for 
each  year  the  sum  of  $4,100,000  in  addition  to  the  sum 
of  $480,000  hereinbefore  provided.  This  makes  the 
enormous  sum  of  $4,580,000  which  will  be  appropri- 
ated permanently  from  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  for  the  promotion  of  practical  demonstrations 
of  agricultural  processes.  To  this  must  be  added  the 
$4,100,000  which  States  must  contribute,  making  the 
total  sum  annually  available  $8,600,000 ! 

DANGEB    OF    OVEE    ENDOWMENT. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  agriculture  is  being  too 
generously  endowed  in  this  country.  Overfeeding  is 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE  313 

one  of  the  gravest  dangers  of  the  growing  organism. 
Agriculture  is  a  growing  organism.  It  is  likely  to  be 
overfed  until  it  becomes  over-fat,  in  which  condition 
it  will  naturally  lapse  into  a  condition  of  lethargy, 
inactivity  and  decay.  Just  as  our  colleges  and  univer- 
sities and  foundations  of  different  kinds  are  becoming 
over-endowed,  just  so  agriculture  is  in  danger  of  pam- 
pering and  coddling.  We  may  well  pause  on  the  thresh- 
old before  entering  upon  an  era  of  agricultural  myxe- 
dema. 

I  would  be  the  last  one  to  oppose  any  necessary  agri- 
cultural endowment.  I  have  seen,  however,  during  my 
career  in  the  public  service,  such  a  wanton  waste  of 
money,  due  to  huge  gifts  for  this  and  that  purpose,  as 
to  make  me  skeptical  of  the  wisdom  of  such  enormous 
grants.  Already  the  Department  of  Agriculture  is  ex- 
pending twenty  million  dollars  a  year,  which  is  more 
than  ten  times  as  much  as  it  was  spending  when  I  first 
became  attached  to  it  in  1883.  Within  a  year  or  two, 
at  the  present  rate,  the  expenditures  will  amount  to 
twenty-five  millions  of  dollars,  and  unless  some  check 
is  placed  upon  these  extravagant  appropriations  an- 
other twenty  years  will  see  forty  millions  of  dollars 
appropriated  to  the  federal  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture. 

The  growth  of  the  Department  has  been  truly  phe- 
nomenal, especially  from  the  time  of  Hon.  Norman  J. 
Coleman  the  first  Secretary  of  Agriculture  and  during 
the  incumbency  of  the  Hon.  James  Wilson,  who  was 
Secretary  for  sixteen  years. 

Healthy  growth  can  come  only  from  strenuous  effort, 
and  the  man  who  sits  at  a  table  bountifully  spread,  who 
goes  thence  to  digestion  in  a  Morris  chair,  and  then 
retires  in  the  soft  draperies  of  a  luxurious  couch,  is 


314 


THE  LURE  OP  THE  LAND 


not  likely  to  make  any  mark  in  the  world  except  that 
of  his  grave.  All  his  virility,  his  initiative  and  origi- 
nality will  be  appropriated  by  Congress  and  will  ooze 
out  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  great  suc- 
cess of  agricultural  work  in  this  country  will  not  be 
through  the  hot-house  plant.  The  simple,  direct  ex- 
periments which  do  not  cost  much  money,  and  the 
results  of  which  are  couched  in  plain  and  simple  lan- 
guage for  the  benefit  of  the  practical  farmer,  will  do 
more  than  all  the  "  show  me  "  business  that  you  can 
possibly  imagine.  Most  interesting  has  been  the  de- 
bate in  the  Senate  on  the  present  appropriation  bill  of 
1914.  The  Senators  themselves  called  attention  to 
some  of  the  crudities  and  dangers  of  this  unbridled  use 
of  money. 

The  following  table  shows  the  schedule  of  appropri- 
ations under  the  last  educational  Act : 


Additional 

Federal  ap- 

Basic fund 

propriation 

Total 

Fiscal  year 

$10,000  to 
each  State 

to  be  distrib- 
uted in  pro- 

Federal 
appropria- 

* 

portion  to 

tion 

rural  popu- 

lation 

1914-15    

.$480,000 

1915-16    

.  480,000 

$   600  000 

$1  080  000 

1916-17    

.  480,000 

1,300000 

1  580  000 

1917-18    

.  480,000 

1  600  000 

2  080  000 

1918-19    

.  480,000 

2,300,000 

2,580,000 

1919-20    

.  480,000 

2,600,000 

3  080  000 

1920-21    

.  480,000 

3,100,000 

3  580  000 

1921-22    

.  480,000 

3,600,000 

4,080,000 

1922-23    

.  480,000 

4,100,000 

4,580,000 

1923  and  thereafter. 

.  480,000 

4,100,000 

4,580,000 

UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE  315 

STATE    MUST    HELP. 

One  of  the  important  conditions  of  the  Act  is  that 
each  State  must  duplicate  the  money  above  $10,000  a 
year  appropriated  to  it  by  the  federal  government. 
The  money  raised  by  the  State  may  come  from  the 
State,  county,  college,  local  authority,  or  individual 
contributions  from  within  the  State,  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  cooperative  agricultural  extension  work.  The 
governor  of  each  State,  in  the  interval  until  the  legis- 
lature meets,  is  called  upon  to  designate  the  agricultural 
college  or  colleges  to  which  the  federal  funds  are  to 
be  paid. 

A  limitation  is  placed  upon  the  use  to  which  the 
funds  appropriated  by  the  United  States  are  to  be  put. 
No  money  appropriated  by  the  United  States  shall  be 
applied,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  purchase,  erection, 
preservation,  or  repair  of  any  building  or  buildings,  or 
the  purchase  or  rental  of  land,  or  in  college-course 
teaching,  lectures  in  colleges,  promoting  agricultural 
trains,  or  any  other  purpose  not  specified  in  the  Act. 

Not  more  than  5  per  cent,  of  each  annual  appro- 
priation may  be  applied  to  the  printing  and  distribu- 
tion of  publications,  and  this  means  that  95  per  cent, 
of  the  appropriation  must  be  devoted  to  the  giving  of 
instruction  and  practical  demonstrations  to  persons  not 
attending  the  colleges. 

If  any  grant  of  the  federal  government  be  lost,  mis- 
managed, or  misapplied  in  any  way,  the  State  respon- 
sible must  make  good  the  sum  before  receiving  any 
further  federal  appropriations. 

There  is  no  other  country  in  which  agricultural  edu- 
cation and  experimentation  are  BO  munificently  en- 
dowed. I  fear  at  times  that  too  much  money  is  avail- 


316  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

able.  The  funds  have  come  more  rapidly  than  experi- 
ence to  handle  them.  There  is  no  blight  so  deadly  as 
that  of  luxury.  I  know  of  no  Bordeaux  mixture  to  limit 
its  ravages. 

TEACHING   AGRICITLTTrRE   IN   THE   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 

Nineteen  States  now  require  that  an  examination 
in  agriculture  be  passed  before  a  teacher  may  obtain 
a  certificate.  This  is  an  indication  that  training  in 
the  elements  of  agriculture  is  soon  to  be  an  important 
part  of  the  public  school  system.  During  the  two  years 
ending  March,  1912,  the  number  of  institutions  giving 
courses  in  agriculture  increased  at  the  rate  of  more 
than  75  a  month,  going  from  1,863  to  2,575.  Many 
normal  schools  are  also  introducing  courses  of  agricul- 
ture, in  order  that  teachers  may  have  an  opportunity 
to  prepare  themselves  for  these  required  examinations. 
Summer  schools  are  also  largely  adopting  courses  of 
study  in  agricultural  work,  because  teachers  may  read- 
ily attend  these  summer  schools  without  interfering 
with  their  regular  work  in  the  classroom. 

The  agricultural  and  mechanical  colleges  of  the 
country  are  also  beginning  to  hold  special  courses  for 
the  use  of  teachers.  This  is  done  by  the  North  Caro- 
lina College,  as  well  as  by  some  others.  Afternoon, 
evening  and  Saturday  classes  in  agriculture  are  also 
offered  at  Columbia  University,  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Heading  courses  have  been  organized  in  agri- 
culture by  the  University  of  Arizona,  the  Michigan 
Agricultural  College,  New  Hampshire  College.  Cornell 
University  and  the  State  University  of  Columbus,  Ohio. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  has  organized  a  free 
reading  course  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  unable 
to  attend  regular  college  work.  A  list  of  Bulletins  and 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE  317 

other  publications  which  are  to  be  read  by  correspond- 
ents has  been  prepared,  and  may  be  had  free  by 
applying  to  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

There  are  eight  courses  offered,  which  cover  thor- 
oughly the  subjects  treated.  They  are  as  follows: 

1.  Agronomy;  5.  Agricultural  Engineering; 

2.  Animal  Husbandry;  6.  Agricultural  Technology; 

3.  Horticulture;  7.  Agricultural  Economics; 

4.  Forestry;  8.  Agricultural  Education. 

As  a  sample  of  what  these  courses  contain,  the  list  of 
the  bulletins  given  under  the  heading  "  Animal  Hus- 
bandry "  is  given  on  the  next  page. 

Besides  outlining  these  courses,  the  bulletin  contains 
lists  of  institutions  maintaining  courses  in  agriculture 
in  summer  sessions,  extension  courses,  and  correspond- 
ence courses.  Similar  courses  are  offered  in  other 
branches  of  farming. 

The  latest  available  data  of  the  activities  of  the  land- 
grant  colleges  are  contained  in  the  publication  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  entitled  "  Statistics  of 
Land-grant  Colleges  and  Agricultural  Experiment  Sta- 
tions, 1912,"  2  issued  by  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture as  a  part  of  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Office  of 
Experiment  Stations  for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1912. 
At  that  time  the  total  number  of  land-grant  colleges 
was  67,  and  at  least  one  was  found  in  all  the  States 
and  territories  except  Alaska. 

TOTAL   VALUE    OF   LAND    GRANT    ENDOWMENT. 

The  aggregate  value  of  the  land-grant  fund  as  a 
permanent  endowment  under  the  Act  of  1862  is 

»  Summary  of  the  Condition  of  the  Agricultural  and  Land  Grant 
Colleges  at  the  End  of  the  Fiscal  Year  Ending  Juno  30,  1912. 


318 


THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 


ANIMAL  HUSBANDRY 


Topic 


Title 


Department's 

Farmers' 

Bulletin 

Number   or 

Year   Book 


Bees   Bees    447 

Birds   Some  Common  Birds 54 

Some   Common   Game,   Aquatic,  497 
and  Rapacious  Birds  in  Their 

Relation  to  Man  

Fifty   Common   Birds   of   Farm 

and  Orchard  513 

Does  It  Pay  the  Farmer  to  Pro-     Year  Book 

tect  Birds?   Sep.  443 

Cattle . .  The  Dairy  Herd 55 

Breeds  of  Dairy  Cattle 106 

Tuberculosis    473 

Hogs    Pig  Management  205 

Hog  Cholera   379 

Sheep Raising  Sheep  for  Mutton 96 

Poultry    ....  Standard  Varieties  of  Chickens.  51 

Ducks  and  Geese 64 

Turkeys    200 

The  Guinea  Fowl 234 

Poultry  Management    287 

Feeds  and        The  Feeding  of  Farm  Animals.  22 

feeding  . . .  Sheep  Feeding 79 

Principles  of  Horse  Feeding. . .  170 


$13,533,868.64;  other  land-grants  tinder  other  acts, 
$3,390,215,83 ;  other  endowments,  $20,129,479.44.  A 
part  of  the  land-grant  of  1862  is  still  unsold,  the  value 
of  which  is  estimated  about  $5,165,209.81.  The  value 
of  the  farms  and  grounds  owned  by  the  agricultural 
colleges  is  $22,023,266,60;  the  value  of  buildings  used 
for  college  purposes  is  $44,459,391.12 ;  the  total  value 
of  scientific  apparatus,  machinery  and  furniture  is 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE  319 

$12,594,728.25;  the  value  of  the  libraries  connected 
with  the  institutions  is  $5,636,297.92 ;  the  value  of  the 
live  stock  on  the  farms  is  $796,959.66;  making  the 
total  value  of  all  kinds  in  the  agricultural  colleges 
$127,729,315.17.  Exclusive  of  the  income  derived 
from  the  United  States  for  the  agricultural  experiment 
stations,  these  institutions  receive  from  the  States  for 
current  expenses  $6,937,410.97;  for  increase  of  build- 
ings and  plant,  $4,647,746.97 ;  they  also  have  received 
as  an  endowment  from  other  than  federal  or  state  grants 
$660,779  ;  as  tuition  and  incidental  fees  $3,654,050.11 ; 
from  private  gifts  $2,384,947.71 ;  and  from  miscellane- 
ous sources  $2,296,065.41.  Including  the  appropria- 
tions from  the  United  States  the  total  amount  of  money 
available  for  the  annual  expenses  of  these  institutions  is 
$25,967,130.45.  During  the  year  1912  it  is  estimated 
that  the  increased  funds  at  the  disposal  of  these  institu- 
tions were  as  follows:  Permanent  endowment,  $1,809,- 
100.40;  buildings,  $4,721,467.79;  libraries,  $283,- 
725.62 ;  scientific  apparatus,  $573,186.90 ;  machinery, 
$270,547.61;  live  stock,  $141,412.15;  miscellaneous, 
$438,721.40;  making  a  total  increment  of  wealth  for 
the  land-grant  colleges  for  one  year  of  $8,238,161.87. 
The  total  value  of  properties  owned  by  the  institutions, 
as  already  stated,  is,  in  round  numbers,  $128,000,000. 
Allowing  for  an  increase  of  $10,000,000  for  1913-1914, 
the  total  value  of  the  equipment  owned  by  the  land-grant 
colleges  at  the  present  time  is  almost  $150,000,000 ! 

NUMBER   OF    PERSONS   IN   THE    TEACHING   FORCE   AND 
STUDENTS. 

In  the  schools  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts 
devoted  to  white  students,  were  found  the  following 
number  of  teachers  and  professors  at  the  end  of  the 


320 

fiscal  year  June  30,  1912:  Teachers  in  the  prepara- 
tory classes,  including  the  secondary  schools  of  agricul- 
ture, 626;  professors  in  the  collegiate  classes  of  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts,  and  in  all  other  forms 
of  instruction  in  these  colleges,  3,569;  making  a  total 
number  of  teachers  of  3,835.  In  addition  to  these 
there  were  161  instructors  giving  full  time  and  525 
giving  part  time  to  agricultural-extension  work;  1,583 
officers  of  experiment  stations;  and  2,705  persons  in 
the  faculties  of  other  colleges  or  departments  not  de- 
voted to  agriculture;  making  a  total  of  7,192  teachers 
and  instructors  in  the  land-grant  institutions. 

In  like  manner  for  the  colored  institutions  there  was 
a  grand  total  of  474  persons  in  the  teaching  corps. 

The  number  of  students  in  the  colleges  for  white 
persons  in  actual  attendance  at  the  institutions  was 
53,764.  There  were  also  enrolled  in  correspondence 
courses  33,149 ;  in  extension  courses,  not  including 
farmers'  institutes,  106,516;  and  in  all  other  depart- 
ments of  the  institutions,  32,685.  Thus  the  total  num- 
ber of  white  students  receiving  instruction  from  these 
institutions  during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1912,  was 
242,954. 

The  total  number  enrolled  in  schools  for  colored  per- 
sons was  8,495. 

The  number  of  graduates  from  the  land-grant  insti- 
tutions for  white  students  during  the  year  ended  June 
30,  1912,  was  8,370,  distributed  as  follows:  Agricul- 
ture, 1,200 ;  mechanic  arts,  2,260 ;  home  economics, 
427;  all  other  courses,  4,494.  The  total  number  of 
graduates  since  the  institutions  were  founded  amounts 
to  103,736. 

In  the  schools  for  colored  persons  the  total  number 
of  graduates  for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1912,  was 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE  321 

131,  and  the  total  number  since  the  organization  of 
these  institutions,  7,458. 

The  total  number  of  acres  of  land  granted  to  the 
States  under  the  act  of  1862  was  10,570,842,  of  which 
652,617  acres  are  still  unsold. 

MUNIFICENT   HELP  TO   AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT 
STATIONS. 

Important  also  are  the  figures  showing  the  expendi- 
tures for  the  work  of  the  agricultural  experiment  sta- 
tions. The  total  income  of  the  stations  maintained 
under  the  acts  of  1887  (Hatch  fund)  and  1906  (Adams 
fund)  was  $4,068,240.09,  of  which  $720,000  came 
from  the  Hatch  fund  and  $720,000  from  the  Adams 
fund.  The  remaining  portion  of  the  income,  namely, 
$2,628,240.09,  came  from  the  following  sources: 
State  governments,  $1,492,798.12;  individuals  and 
communities,  $54,878.51;  fees  for  analyses  of  fertiliz- 
ers, $129,884.61 ;  sales  of  farm  products,  $230,271.81 ; 
miscellaneous,  including  all  unexpended  balances, 
$720,407.04.  In  addition  to  this  sum,  the  Office  of 
Experiment  Stations  at  Washington  had  an  appropria- 
tion for  the  fiscal  year  of  1912  of  $424,000,  which  in- 
cludes $30,000  each  for  the  Alaska,  Hawaii  and  Porto 
Kico  Experiment  Stations,  $15,000  for  the  Guam  Ex- 
periment Station,  $15,000  for  nutrition  investigations, 
$100,000  for  irrigation  investigations,  $100,000  for 
drainage  investigations,  and  $10,000  for  farmers'  in- 
stitutes and  agricultural  schools. 

PBOFESSORS,    DIRECTORS,    AND   EMPLOYEES. 

The  agricultural  stations  employ  altogether  1,583 
persons  in  the  work  of  administration  and  research, 
classified  as  follows:  Directors,  57;  assistant  directors, 


322          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

25 ;  chemists,  250 ;  agriculturists,  32 ;  agronomists,  91 ; 
animal  husbandmen,  120 ;  dairymen,  90 ;  veterinarians, 
60 ;  entomologists,  101 ;  botanists,  61 ;  horticulturists, 
121;  poultrymen,  40;  plant  pathologists,  61;  zoologists, 
3;  meteorologists,  9;  pomologists,  16;  foresters,  21; 
mycologists,  21 ;  biologists,  7 ;  geologists,  2 ;  plant  breed- 
ers, 16;  bacteriologists,  40;  animal  pathologists,  8; 
viticulturists,  5;  soil  specialists,  50;  irrigation  and 
drainage  engineers,  26 ;  agricultural  engineers  and  farm 
mechanics,  15 ;  extension  work  and  farmers'  institute 
directors,  19 ;  farm  management,  6 ;  animal  nutrition, 
11;  fertilizer  and  feed  inspectors,  16;  agricultural  edu- 
cation, 5 ;  in  charge  of  substations,  55 ;  farm  and  gar- 
den foremen,  43;  secretaries  and  treasurers,  22;  and 
librarians,  22. 

From  the  above  summary  it  is  possible  to  estimate 
the  gigantic  work,  in  so  far  as  material  means  are  con- 
cerned, which  is  undertaken  by  the  federal  and  State 
governments  for  the  teaching  of  agriculture  and  the 
promotion  of  agricultural  research.  This  army  of 
graduates  and  students  is  distributed  all  over  the  coun- 
try and  through  our  territorial  possessions.  They 
carry  with  them  the  principles  of  scientific  agriculture, 
and  by  precept  and  example  are  able  to  teach  these 
principles  to  the  farmers  at  large.  It  is  somewhat  re- 
markable, in  view  of  these  tremendous  expenditures  of 
energy  directed  towards  the  improvement  of  agricul- 
tural conditions,  that  the  average  yield  of  the  fields  has 
been  increased,  if  at  all,  by  only  small  quantities.  The 
ravages  of  disease  and  the  scourges  that  infect,  annoy 
and  destroy  crops  and  farm  animals,  are  yet  apparently 
unchecked.  These  negative  results,  in  so  far  as  prac- 
tical advantages  are  concerned,  are,  however,  not  to 
be  too  seriously  considered.  A  third  of  a  century  ago 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  COLLEGE  323 

all  American  agriculture  was  on  the  downward  path, 
racing  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  reach  the  minimum  of 
production.  It  had  gathered  momentum  in  its  down- 
ward course  and  it  has  required  all  these  years  to  check 
its  progress.  The  sudden  growth  of  agricultural  edu- 
cation and  experimentation  produced  a  paucity  of  prop- 
erly qualified  employees.  It  would  be  interesting,  if 
it  could  be  ascertained,  to  know  what  percentage  of  the 
vast  sum  expended  in  these  activities  during  the  past 
third  of  a  century  has  been  absorbed  by  training  di- 
rectors and  experimenters  and  how  much  has  been 
wasted  on  incompetents  and  agricultural  vagaries! 
This,  if  known,  must  explain  the  absence  of  material 
crop  increase. 

Now  we  may  hope  that  this  downward  course  has 
been  stopped.  There  are  even  signs  of  a  movement  in 
the  opposite  direction.  There  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  this  movement  will  become  accelerated  and 
that  there  will  be  a  gradual,  and  for  some  time  hastened, 
progress  towards  a  maximum  of  production.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  conceive  of  the  soils  of  this  country,  under 
such  scientific  direction,  producing  three  times  as  much 
human  food  and  clothing  as  they  do  to-day,  with- 
out any  appreciable  expansion  of  acreage.  When  that 
result  shall  have  been  obtained,  the  full  fruition  of  this 
great  work  in  agricultural  education  will  have  been 
realized,  and  Uncle  Sam's  big  college  be  fully  appre- 
ciated. In  this  connection  we  should  not  forget  the 
credit  due  to  Hon.  Jeremiah  Rusk,  the  second  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture,  1889-1893,  who  was  an  enthusiastic 
promoter  of  agricultural  education. 


XXIX 

UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  FARM 

MA2TY  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  are 
patriotic  and  proud  of  their  country  have  never- 
theless vague  ideas  concerning  the  extent  of  Uncle 
Sam's  Big  Farm.  I  have  applied  for  information  on 
this  point  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  have 
been  courteously  furnished  with  the  following  data: 

First  of  all  I  call  attention  to  the  chart,  which  shows 
in  a  graphic  manner  the  extent  of  the  land  area  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  different  kinds  of  land  therein, 
namely,  arable,  irrigable,  drainable,  forest,  grazing  and 
desert.  This  chart  gives  at  a  glance  and  in  a  compara- 
tive way  most  valuable  information.  In  submitting 
these  data  I  call  particular  attention  to  the  caution 
given  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  transmitting 
the  estimates,  by  reason  of  the  very  difficult  task  of  se- 
curing absolutely  reliable  data  on  all  these  points.  The 
officials  of  the  Department  emphasize  the  fact  that  the 
data  rest  upon  many  variable  factors  that  vitiate  more 
or  less  such  estimates  as  these;  nevertheless  they  are 
undoubtedly  the  most  accurate  which  have  been  made, 
and  while  further  investigations  may  change  them 
slightly  they  may  be  accepted  as  approximately  correct. 

Especially  is  it  difficult  to  give  accurate  forecasts  of 
the  areas  which  may  be  brought  under  cultivation  in 
the  future  by  reason  of  reclaiming  swamps  and  deserts. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  Department  utilization  of  land 

324 


"Thi-  Kf 
thr  inninilM- 
iMtrirulturr" 


JAMKS    WILSON 

i if  I  hi-    I  >rpnrt  mi-ill   IIU.H    IMTII    trul> 
.(    Il..n.    Janx-H    UN-,,,,.    «!„,    f,,r 


phrnomrn*]  <-<p«-<-inlly  ilurinK 
ii\tii-n    year*    was    .m-crrlnry  of 


ESTIMATED  POTENTIAL  ARABLE  LAND. 


HUNDKCD    MILLION}    OF  AC9C5 


IZ'345676910  II  IZ  13  14-  15   16  17  16  13 


Arable  Land  Yet 
Unimproved. 


Irrigable  Land  ret 
Unirriqated 


Absolute  Forcjt  Land 
AtJpluU  Grajinj  Lind 
Absolute  Otsert  Land 


nd,Li>tern 
JttUJ.Vet  Unimproved 


Artbte  Land,»V(iUrn 
3UUitYft  Unimproved 


325 


326          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

for  crops  will  probably  never  reach  the  total  estimated 
area  of  potential  arable  land.  On  the  contrary,  -with 
increasing  population  and  improved  methods  of  mar- 
keting, the  trend  will  probably  be  towards  the  more 
intensive  cultivation  of  the  more  fertile  or  favorably 
situated  land,  and  the  more  extensive  cultivation  of  the 
less  valuable  land,  as  is  illustrated  in  China.  This 
trend  is  particularly  evident  in  California,  where  the 
wheat  acreage  declined  between  1899  and  1909  from 
2,683,405  acres  to  478,217  acres,  while  the  area  planted 
to  alfalfa,  vegetables  and  fruit,  increased  during  the 
same  time  340,000  acres.  During  this  time,  also,  569,- 
000  acres  reverted  to  unimproved  land,  and  approxi- 
mately 900,000  acres  were  transformed  into  improved 
pasture. 

It  appears  from  the  investigations  that  have  been 
made  that  the  acreage  of  arable  land  in  the  Eastern  part 
of  the  country  will  not  increase  very  greatly  unless 
lower  prices  of  labor  render  the  use  of  machinery  less 
profitable,  and  permit  a  return  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
hillside  by  hand.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  Western  part 
of  the  country,  with  rising  prices  of  beef  cattle,  the  ten- 
dency is  likely  to  be  towards  an  increase  rather  than  a 
diminution  of  the  land  devoted  to  pasture. 

The  points  in  the  graphic  chart  which  are  particu- 
larly interesting  are :  First,  the  total  land  area  of  the 
United  States,  and  this  of  course  does  not  include  any 
of  its  territorial  possessions,  is,  in  round  numbers, 
1,904,000,000  acres.  The  total  land  suitable  for  cul- 
ture, that  is,  arable  land,  is  935,000,000  acres,  a  little 
less  than  half  of  the  total  area.  The  land  suitable  to 
cultivation  which  has  not  yet  been  brought  under  the 
plow  is  456,000,000  acres,  and  the  possible  irrigable 
land  still  un-irrigated  31,000,000  acres,  and  the  possi- 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  FARM  327 

ble  drainable  land  yet  undrained  79,000,000  acres. 
The  arid  area  not  possible  of  irrigation  by  reason  of  the 
lack  of  water,  but  some  of  which  may  be  devoted  to  dry- 
farming,  is  127,000,000  acres;  forest  lands  totally  un- 
suitable for  agriculture,  460,000,000  acres ;  forest  lands 
suitable  for  grazing,  467,000,000  acres;  and  desert 
land  of  which  there  is  no  hope  for  any  purpose,  40,- 
000,000  acres.  These  subdivisions  of  the  different 
kinds  of  land  are  summarized  in  following  tables: 

From   the   estimate   of  935,000,000   acres   of   arable   land 
there  should  probably  be  deducted: 
Land  in  roads,  12  acres  for  every  section 

(640  acres)  of  arable  land,  or  about 17,700,000  acres. 

Land  in  farmsteads,  possibly  2  acres  for  each 

of  the  6,361,000  farms,  or  about   12,700,000      " 


30,400,000      " 

The  loss  of  arable  land  because  of  fences 
would  probably  equal  the  loss  from  roads, 
Leaving  a  total  arable  area  of  900,000,000  acres,  or  less. 

Acres. 

1.  Area  of  irrigated  land  in  United  States,  1910 
(census)    13,738,485 

2.  Approximate  area  irrigated  at  present 15,500,000 

3.  Estimated    area    of   irrigated    land    when    all 
available  water  is   used   and   transported   by 
present  methods,  less  necessary  deduction  for 
drainage,    proportionate   acreage   of    different 

crops  remaining  as  at  present   50,000,000 

4.  Estimated  area  of  irrigated  land  when  all  avail- 
able water  is  transported  with  minimum  waste 
without  regard  to  cost  of  construction  of  con- 
duits,  less   necessary  deduction    for  drainage, 
proportionate   acreage   of  different   crops   re- 
maining as  at  present  65,000,000 

5.  Estimated   area  of   irrigated   land   with   most 
perfect  known  transmission  of  water  and  opti- 


328 


THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 


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UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  FARM 


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330  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

mum  utilization  upon  the  fields,  less  necessary 
deduction  for  drainage,  proportionate  acreage 
of  different  crops  remaining  as  at  present  . .  90,000,000 
6.  Probable  area  which  could  be  profitably  irri- 
gated at  present  prices  of  farm  products, 
labor,  land,  and  capital  45,000,000 

MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  ABEA  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADING 
CHOPS. 

INDIAN    COBN. 

The  area  planted  to  Indian  corn  in  the  United  States 
is  slightly  above  100,000,000  acres.  In  1913  the  area 
was  105,000,820  acres. 

Inasmuch  as  Indian  corn  covers  the  largest  area  de- 
voted to  any  one  cultivated  crop  in  the  United  States, 
the  comparative  areas  cultivated  in  other  countries  to 
this  crop  will  be  of  interest.  The  total  area  in  Indian 
corn  for  1913  was: 

Acres 

In  Canada 16,278,000 

In  Argentina    ...'. 9,464,000 

In  Austria    705,000 

In  Hungary    6,422,000 

In  Italy   3,888,000 

In  Roumania    5,305,000 

In  Russia    4,233,000 

In  Spain    1,105,000 

In  the  Philippine  Islands 988,000 

In  Algeria     24,000 

In  Australia    320,000 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  area  planted  to  Indian  corn 
in  the  United  States  is  considerably  larger  than  that  of 
all  the  other  nations  of  the  world.  The  largest  yield 
of  Indian  corn  in  the  United  States  was  harvested  in 
1912,  totaling  3,124,746,000  bushels.  The  total  pro- 


UNCLE  SAWS  BIG  FARM  331 

duction  of  the  world  for  the  same  year  was  4,362,- 
288,000  bushels.  Thus  it  appears  that  the  production 
of  Indian  corn  in  the  United  States  is  almost  three 
times  as  great  as  that  of  all  other  countries. 

OTHER    CEREALS. 

The  area  planted  to  wheat  in  1914  in  the  United 
States  is  estimated  at  35,387,000  acres  of  winter  wheat 
and  17,990,000  acres  of  spring  wheat,  a  total  acreage 
of  63,377,000.  The  yield  for  1914,  estimated  on  re- 
liable data,  is  considerably  in  excess  of  900,000,000 
bushels.  The  area  planted  to  oats  in  the  United  States 
in  1914  is  estimated  at  38,383,000  acres.  The  area 
planted  to  barley  in  1914  is  estimated  at  7,528,000 
acres.  In  1913  the  yield  of  oats  was  1,121,768,000 
bushels.  Compared  with  other  countries  for  1913,  the 
following  data  are  given: 

Total  yield  of  oats: 

Bushels 

In  Canada    404,669,000 

In  South  America   121,879,000 

In  Europe    2,960,929,000 

In  Asia     500,000 

In  Africa   31,768,000 

In  Australia     16,625,000 

In  New  Zealand   14,013,000 

For  the  whole  world    4,672,168,000 

The  comparative  yields  of  rye  in  1913  are  shown  by 
the  following  data : 

Bushels 

United  States 41,381,000 

Canada    2,300,000 

Mexico     70,000 

Europe    1,840,695,000 

Asia     32,953,000 

Australia    , 110,000 


332  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

Bushels 

New  Zealand *  90,000 

Total   for  all  the  world    1,884,646,000 

POTATOES. 

The  area  planted  in  potatoes  in  the  United  States 
for  1912  was  3,711,000  acres,  and  the  yield  420,647,000 
bushels.  As  compared  with  other  countries  the  yields 
are  as  follows: 

Bushels 

In  Canada    84,885,000 

In  Mexico     924,000 

In  Newfoundland    1,524,000 

In  South  America    59,656,000 

In  Europe    5,237,364,000 

In  Asia   118,774,000 

In  Africa   3,800,000 

In  Australia     11,256,000 

In  New  Zealand 5,410,000 

Total  for  the  world  5,945,846,000 

The  areas  of  other  crops  in  the  United  States  are  as 
follows:  Flax,  1914,  1,927,000  acres;  sugar  beets, 
580,006  acres;  yielding  5,659,462  tons  of  beets,  with 
an  average  production  of  sugar  of  259  pounds  per  ton. 
The  total  production  of  cane  sugar  in  the  United  States 
for  1913  was  299,698  tons,  and  the  total  domestic  pro- 
duction of  sugar,  exclusive  of  Hawaii,  Porto  Rico  and 
the  Philippines,  was  1,033,099  tons.  During  the  same 
period  there  were  produced  in  Hawaii  546,524  tons  of 
cane  sugar  from  53,600  acres  of  cane.  The  total  area 
planted  to  cotton  in  the  United  States  in  1913  is  esti- 
mated at  37,458,000  acres,  yielding  an  average  of  182 
pounds  of  cotton  per  acre  in  spite  of  the  boll  weevil. 
Of  the  remaining  areas  not  accounted  for  in  the  above 
data,  that  are  suitable  for  agricultural  purposes,  the 
greater  part  is  in  meadow  48,400,000  acres  and  pasture. 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  FARM  333 

FOREST   PBODUCTS. 

Uncle  Sam's  big  forest  extends  over  many  millions 
of  acres,  but  few  of  us  know  anything  definite  regard- 
ing the  magnitude  of  business  connected  with  forest  ac- 
tivities. A  careful  estimate  made  by  the  Bureau  of 
Forestry  shows  that  about  45,000,000,000  feet  of  lum- 
ber of  all  kinds  are  produced  annually  in  the  United 
States.  Of  this  quantity  about  25,000,000,000  feet, 
board  measure,  are  subjected  to  further  manufacture, 
and  the  rest  of  it  is  used  for  rough  construction  lumber 
and  general  purposes.  The  above  estimate  does  not  in- 
clude any  material  which  reaches  its  final  use  in  the 
form  of  fuel,  railroad  ties,  posts,  poles,  pulpwood, 
cooperage,  wood  distillates,  and  the  barks  and  extracts 
consumed  in  the  tanning  industry. 

About  one  hundred  different  kinds  of  wood  are  used 
in  this  country  for  different  purposes.  The  softwoods 
and  the  needle-leaf,  or  coniferous  trees,  are  most  im- 
portant. There  is,  however,  a  large  number  of  species 
and  varieties  among  the  hardwoods,  or  broadleaf  trees. 
Yellow  pine  leads  the  list  of  different  kinds  of  trees  in 
furnishing  more  than  eight  billion  feet  of  lumber,  fol- 
lowed by  white  pine  with  three  billion  feet,  and  Doug- 
las fir  with  a  little  more  than  two  billion  feet.  The 
term  "  yellow  pine  "  includes  several  species,  the  three 
most  important  of  which  are  longleaf,  shortleaf  and 
loblolly.  All  the  different  kinds  of  oak  furnish  about 
two  billion  feet,  and  oak  is  the  most  important  of  the 
hardwoods,  maple  coming  next  in  order. 

A  tree  which  is  little  known,  as  a  rule,  for  lumber 
purposes,  namely,  dogwood,  furnishes  more  than  seven 
million  board  feet. 

There  are  not  less  than  fifty-five  manufacturing  in- 


334  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

dustries  which  use  wood  as  a  raw  material.  More  than 
one-half  of  the  total  lumber  that  is  manufactured  con- 
sists in  planing  mill  products,  the  largest  items  of  which 
are  flooring,  siding,  ceiling,  and  finishing.  The  next 
most  important  industry  in  which  wood  is  used  is  in 
the  manufacture  of  boxes  and  crates.  It  is  estimated 
that  nearly  four  times  as  much  is  demanded  in  the 
manufacture  of  boxes  and  crates  as  is  used  by  the  build- 
ers of  steam  and  electric  cars,  and  five  times  as  much  as 
that  which  is  used  for  furniture.  Vehicles  demand 
large  supplies  of  wood,  and  this  must  be  of  a  high  class 
in  order  to  meet  the  requirements  for  frames,  gears  and 
bodies. 

Chairs,  listed  separately  from  furniture,  come  after 
novelties  and  supplies  for  dairymen,  poultry  keepers, 
and  apiarists,  and  require  just  a  little  more  wood  than 
handles  and  musical  instruments.  A  large  amount  of 
wood  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  pumps  and  wood 
pipes.  Canes,  umbrella  handles,  brooms,  firearms,  arti- 
ficial limbs,  and  tobacco  pipes,  use  large  quantities  of 
wood. 

Taken  all  in  all,  Uncle  Sam's  lumber  industry  is  a 
big  item.  If  we  add  to  the  above  the  immense  quanti- 
ties used  for  firewood  and  railroad  ties,  we  then  begin 
to  have  an  adequate  idea  of  the  vast  extent  of  this  in- 
dustry. 

NUMBER  AND   VALUE    OF   FAEM   ANIMALS. 

The  latest  computation  of  the  number  of  milch  cows 
and  their  value  on  the  farms  of  the  United  States  on 
February  1,  1914,  as  given  by  the  estimates  of  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  are  as  follows : 

The  estimates  indicate  that  the  number  of  milch  cows  on 
farms  in  the  United  States  is  now  20,737,000,  an  increase  of 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  FARM  335 

about  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  over  the  census  figures  of 
1910.  Meanwhile  the  average  farm  price  of  milch  cows  has 
increased  from  $35.79  in  1910  to  $53.94,  or  an  increase  of 
50.7%.  On  this  basis  the  farm  value  of  milch  cows  now  in 
the  United  States  is  estimated  at  $1,118,487,000  as  compared 
with  an  estimated  value  in  the  census  year  of  $738,184,000,  an 
increase  of  $380,303,000,  or  an  average  annual  increase  for 
four  years  of  $95,075,000. 

The  average  value  of  milk  sold  by  farmers  in  the 
United  States  was  $0.087  per  gallon  in  1899  and 
$0.130  per  gallon  in  1909.  The  average  value  of 
cream  per  gallon  in  1899  was  $0.43,  and  in  1909,  $0.69. 
The  average  value  of  butter  per  pound  in  1899  was 
$0.17,  and  in  1909,  $0.24.  The  average  value  of 
cheese  per  pound  in  1899  was  $0.09,  and  in  1909,  $0.12. 

The  quantity  of  butter  made  on  farms  and  in  fac- 
tories in  1900  was  1,491,752,602  pounds,  and  in  1910, 
1,619,415,263  pounds.  The  quantity  of  cheese  made 
on  farms  and  in  factories  in  1900  was  298,344,642 
pounds,  and  in  1910,  320,532,181  pounds. 

COMPARATIVE    VALUE    OF    THE    CATTLE    ON    FABMS    FOE 
THE  CENSUS  OF  1910  AND  1900. 

The  value  of  all  cattle,  including  cows,  on  the  farms 
for  the  census  of  1910,  is  estimated  at  $1,499,523,607, 
showing  an  average  value  of  $24.26  per  head.  The 
same  values  for  1900  are  $1,475,204,633,  showing  an 
average  value  of  $21.78  per  head.  Thus,  while  the 
number  of  cattle  decreased,  the  value  slightly  increased. 
Allowing  for  the  discrepancies  in  the  dates  of  taking 
the  two  censuses  and  for  the  classification  of  different 
ages,  the  census  report  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  had 
the  census  of  1910  been  taken  on  June  first,  after  more 
spring  cows  had  been  born,  the  average  value  of  cattle 
reported  would  have  been  somewhat  lower,  because  of 


336  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

the  great  increase  in  the  number  of  these  calves  of  low 
average  value.  Allowing  for  this  discrepancy,  the  total 
valuations  per  head  would  have  been  brought  a  little 
closer  together. 

In  regard  to  the  total  value  of  dairy  cows,  the  data 
for  1910  show  a  total  of  $706,236,307,  or  an  average 
of  $34.24  a  head.  For  1900  the  data  show  a  valuation 
of  $508,616,501,  or  an  average  of  $29.68  per  head. 
Thus  the  average  value  of  dairy  cattle  per  head  in- 
creased from  1900  to  1910,  despite  the  fact  that  the 
average  age  of  the  class  was  doubtless  somewhat  lower 
at  the  later  census  than  at  the  earlier  census.  It  is 
interesting  to  note,  also,  that  the  average  number  of 
cattle  of  all  kinds  per  farm  was  14.3  head  in  1900  and 
11.7  head  in  1910.  These  data  show,  also,  the  pro- 
gressive decrease  of  cattle,  not  only  with  the  population 
but  also  with  the  average  number  on  the  farms. 

In  regard  to  other  animals  on  the  farms,  the  census 
shows  the  following  comparative  data : 

1900  1910 

Number  of  horses    18,267,020  19,833,113 

Number  of  mules 3,264,615  4,209,769 

Number  of  asses   and   burros ....  94,165  105,698 

Number  of  swine   62,868,041  58,185,676 

Number  of  sheep   61,503,712  52,447,861 

Number  of  goats    1,870,599  2,915,125 

These  data  show  an  increase  in  the  number  of  horses 
during  the  ten  years,  of  8.6  per  cent.;  in  the  number 
of  mules,  29  per  cent. ;  in  the  number  of  asses  and 
burros,  12.2  per  cent ;  and  a  decrease  in  swine,  of  7.4 
per  cent ;  in  sheep,  of  14.7  per  cent. ;  and  an  increase 
in  goats  of  55.8  per  cent  In  regard  to  the  values  of 
the  animals,  the  following  comparative  data  are  given : 
Total  value  of  the  above-named  domestic  animals  on 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  FARM  337 

the  farm  in  1900,  $2,979,197,586;  in  1910,  $4,760,- 
060,093.  The  increase  of  the  value  in  the  ten  years 
amounts  to  59.8  per  cent  of  all  animals.  The  increase 
by  classes  amounts  to  1.6  per  cent,  in  cattle;  132.4  per 
cent,  in  horses;  167.8  per  cent  in  mules;  127.1  per 
cent,  in  asses  and  burros;  72.1  per  cent,  in  swine;  36.8 
per  cent  in  sheep;  and  89.1  per  cent,  in  goats.  For 
all  domestic  animals  the  average  increase  in  value  in 
the  ten  years  was  59.8  per  cent.  The  average  value 
per  head  for  the  animals  named  other  than  cattle,  which 
has  already  been  given,  is  as  follows: 

1900  1910 

For  horses   $49.08  105.06 

For  mules    60.11  124.80 

For  asses  and  burros  61.71  124.89 

For  swine    3.69  6.86 

For  sheep    „ 2.77  4.44 

For  goats 1.75  2.12 

The  comparisons  are  modified  slightly,  as  in  the  case 
of  cattle,  by  the  different  dates  at  which  the  census 
was  taken,  namely,  June  1st  for  1900  and  April  15th 
for  1910.  Had  both  censuses  been  taken  on  June  first 
there  would  probably  have  been  much  less  decrease  in 
the  number  of  cattle  and  sheep,  a  moderate  increase 
in  the  number  of  swine,  and  a  somewhat  greater  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  horses  and  of  mules,  than  is 
shown  in  the  table. 

As  regards  the  value  of  the  different  classes  of  do- 
mestic animals,  horses  led  in  the  census  of  1910,  showing 
43.8  per  cent  of  the  total  value  of  all  the  classes  com- 
bined. On  the  contrary,  in  1900  the  value  of  cattle 
greatly  exceeded  that  of  horses ;  but  the  value  of  cattle 
per  head  increased  only  slightly  during  the  decade, 
while  that  of  horses  more  than  doubled.  Horses,  mules, 


338  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

asses  and  burros  together  contributed  more  than  one- 
half,  namely,  55.1  per  cent  of  the  value  of  domestic 
animals  on  farms  in  1910;  while  cattle  alone  contrib- 
uted almost  one-half  of  the  total  value  in  1900,  namely, 
49.5  per  cent.,  and  in  1910  the  cattle  contributed  only 
31.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  value. 

The  above  data  show  that  while  meat  producing  ani- 
mals, namely,  cattle,  swine  and  sheep,  decreased  in 
number  in  the  decade  from  1900  to  1910,  other  ani- 
mals, namely,  horses,  mules  and  asses,  increased  in 
number.  The  increase  in  number,  however,  in  mules 
was  the  only  one  in  which  the  percentage  of  increase 
exceeded  the  percentage  of  increase  in  the  rate  of  popu- 
lation, the  mules  increasing  29  per  cent,  while  the 
population  increased  only  21  per  cent. 

From  the  data  contained  in  the  13th  census  we  learn 
that  there  are  in  the  farms  of  the  United  States  878,- 
798,325  acres,  of  which  478,451,750  acres  are  im- 
proved, and  400,346,575  acres  unimproved.  I  shall 
endeavor  to  show  that  by  a  proper  application  of  the 
principles  of  scientific  agriculture,  now  well  under- 
stood, we  can  easily  support  one  person  on  each  2  acres 
of  the  actual  arable  land  in  this  country,  or  a  total  of 
nearly  300,000,000  souls.  The  total  area  of  Belgium 
is  7,278,720  acres,  and  its  population  6,410,783,  or 
nearly  one  for  each  acre.  Ohio  resembles  Belgium  in 
contour,  climate  and  fertility  of  soil.  Ohio  has  an 
area  of  26,131,200  acres  of  land,  and,  measured  by  the 
Belgium  standard,  could  easily  feed  20,000,000  peo- 
ple. Ohio  is  only  an  example  of  what  other  portions 
of  the  United  States  could  do. 

It  would  be  too  much  of  detail  to  give  here  all  the 
agricultural  products  of  the  vast  area  of  our  lands.  It 
is  enough  to  know  that  with  the  present  method  of  farm- 


UNCLE  SAM'S  BIG  FARM  339 

ing  the  quantity  of  food  and  clothing  produced  is  far 
greater  than  is  needed  by  the  100,000,000  people  now 
within  our  borders.  When  Uncle  Sam's  big  farm  is 
properly  cultivated,  we  would  not  be  hungry  with  a 
population  equal  to  that  of  China,  Malthus  and  Sir 
William  Crookes  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 


XXX 

A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO 1 

SPECULATION'S  concerning  the  origin  and  destiny 
of  man  have  always  been  a  favorite  pastime  of 
philosophers  and  theologians.  If  man  really  had  his 
origin  in  all  the  ways  which  have  been  seriously  and 
facetiously  described  the  difference  in  races  and  indi- 
viduals are  no  longer  a  matter  of  wonder.  If  at  the 
end  the  race  be  disposed  of  in  harmony  with  the  several 
notions  relating  to  his  destiny  the  future  state  of  man 
will  not  be  open  to  the  charge  of  monotony. 

The  theme  of  this  discourse  is  far  less  pretentious 
than  the  scope  of  discussion  outlined  above.  It  accepts 
man  as  he  is  without  a  question  as  to  his  origin.  It 
dismisses  him  finally  without  predictions  as  to  his  fu- 
ture state.  As  becomes  a  theme  suggested  by  the  dedi- 
cation of  a  building  devoted  to  Agriculture,  it  is  of  the 
earth  earthy:  The  wings  of  fancy  which  might  carry 
the  poet  into  ether  are  changed  into  plodding  feet  which 
never  lose  touch  with  the  ground. 

But  the  toes,  as  is  also  becoming,  are  pointed  to  the 
coming  years,  but  not  so  far  advanced  as  to  prevent 
the  heels  from  being  buttressed  against  the  solid  facts 
of  the  past  The  true  value  of  vaticination  is  vastly 
increased  by  adhesion  to  verity.  My  prophetic  eye 
to-day,  therefore,  peers  into  the  depths  of  another  cen- 

i  An  address  delivered  at  the  inauguration  of  the  agricultural 
building  of  the  State  University  of  Ohio,  at  Columbus,  on  Jan- 
uary 12,  1898. 

340 


JEREMIAH    HUSK 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  1889-1893 

Under  whose  administration  the  Department  of  Agriculture  started  its  active  campaign 
in  support  of  agricultural  education 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  341 

tury,  not  to  catch  the  glint  of  marching  bayonets,  nor 
to  hear  the  sound  of  forensic  eloquence.  Nor  does  it 
look  across  the  sea  to  trace  the  progress  of  events  on  that 
ground  where  nearly  all  history  has  been  made.  On 
the  contrary,  it  scans  only  our  own  land,  and  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  ascertaining,  in  a  modest  way,  how  Ag- 
riculture is  to  feed  the  three  hundred  million  mouths 
that  will  be  opened  for  food  in  these  United  States  on 
the  good  day  of  our  Lord  Jan.  1,  2000.  Every  college 
boy  who  has  advanced  to  his  senior  year  is  familiar 
with  the  leading  theories  of  so-called  economic  science  on 
this  subject.  It  is  quite  surprising  with  what  accuracy 
the  comfortable  college  professor  sets  limits  to  the  num- 
ber of  our  inhabitants  and  the  products  of  agriculture. 
The  alluring  theories  of  Adam  Smith  and  Malthus 
have  never  lost  their  dominant  influence  in  those  cozy 
libraries  where  the  well  fed  professor,  with  his  gastric 
glands  in  full  function  on  a  good  dinner,  tells  us  of 
the  near  starvation  of  man.  Our  virgin  soils,  he  says, 
are  exhausted.  The  average  of  field  crops  is  decreas- 
ing. This  country  has  reached  its  maximum  limit  in 
the  production  of  food  stuffs.  In  a  few  years  we  will 
be  importing  meat  and  bread.  The  increase  in  our 
population  will  soon  be  checked  by  the  limits  of  sub- 
sistence. Every  energy  of  man  will  be  used  up  in  the 
struggle  for  existence.  Progress  will  be  arrested,  and 
humanity  having  reached  its  full  flower  and  fruit,  will 
soon  enter  upon  that  era  of  retrogression  which  is  the 
natural  course  of  all  human  events. 

Such  are  the  dicta  of  the  lecture  room  and  of  the 
magazine. 

I  do  not  believe  that  this  pessimistic  view  of  the  near 
future  of  man  is  based  on  fact,  nor  sustained  by  ten- 
able theory.  In  support  of  this  statement,  I  propose 


342  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

to  discuss  very  briefly  some  of  the  relations  of  the  new 
agriculture  to  the  sustenance  and  welfare  of  man. 

THE    NATIONS    NOT    TO    STARVE. 

In  a  short  space  I  shall  try  to  show  how  the  scien- 
tific agriculture  of  the  future  will  easily  provide  for  all 
the  demands  which  a  rapidly  increasing  population 
will  make  upon  it.  In  the  illustration  of  this  statement 
I  shall  refer  only  to  a  few  of  our  staple  products,  and 
first  of  all,  wheat.  The  adage  "  Bread  is  the  staff  of 
life"  should  not  be  taken  too  literally,  but  in  a  more 
diffused  sense,  bread  represents  especially  the  cereal 
crops.  Among  these  wheat  is  second  in  quantity,  and 
first  in  its  importance  as  a  direct  human  food.  Our 
average  product  of  wheat  for  a  period  of  ten  years  is 
12.7  bushels  per  acre.  This  rate  of  production  is  prac- 
tically a  minimum.  It  is  what  the  patient  soil  will 
produce  under  a  regime  of  chronic  robbery.  The  aver- 
age production  of  wheat  for  a  period  of  50  years  in  a 
soil  at  Eothamsted  which  has  never  received  a  particle 
of  manure  during  the  time  specified,  is  13%  bushels 
per  acre.  A  part  of  the  same  field,  properly  manured 
with  barnyard  manure,  has  given  an  average  yield  of 
33%  bushels  per  acre. 

INCREASED    YIELD   OF   WHEAT. 

I  have  before  me  a  bulletin  of  the  Maryland  Agri- 
cultural Station  which  gives  a  yield  of  wheat  obtained 
on  plots  under  proper  culture  in  Prince  George's 
County,  Maryland.  I  find  that  this  soil,  which  a  few 
years  ago  was  regarded  as  worthless  for  agricultural 
purposes,  has  yielded,  under  scientific  management,  40 
bushels  of  wheat  per  acre.  This  is  not  a  chance  harvest, 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  343 

but  one  that  has  been  often  obtained,  and  one  that  can 
be  obtained  indefinitely. 

The  methods  which  are  employed  for  securing  these 
yields  are  well  known.  They  can  be  easily  and  gener- 
ally applied,  being  changed  to  suit  changed  conditions 
of  soil  and  climate.  With  intelligence  and  care,  such 
as  the  agricultural  stations  and  colleges  make  possible 
to  every  farmer,  these  full  harvests  can  be  generally 
obtained.  Thus,  without  adding  anything  to  our  pres- 
ent acreage,  it  is  easily  possible  to  increase  our  wheat 
yield  three-fold.  Scientific  agriculture  to-day  may 
safely  undertake  the  task  of  feeding  240,000,000 
Americans,  and  exporting  150,000,000  bushels  of  wheat 
without  encroaching  upon  the  area  now  devoted  to  any 
other  crop. 

INCREASED    YIELD   OF    CORN. 

But  wheat  is  only  a  small  part  of  our  resources. 
Indian  corn  is  almost  as  nutritious  as  wheat.  Its  con- 
tent of  protein  matter  is  not  gluten,  and  it  does  not 
make  light  and  spongy  loaves,  but  it  does  make  bread, 
highly  nutritious  and  palatable.  The  average  yield  of 
Indian  corn  for  the  past  ten  years  in  this  country  has 
been  24.2  bushels  per  acre. 

When  I  turn  to  the  reports  of  the  Kentucky  experi- 
ment station  I  find  a  most  striking  lesson.  We  usually 
think  of  experiment  stations  as  the  helpers  of  the  poor 
soils,  but  in  the  case  of  Kentucky  we  find  one  situated 
in  the  heart  of  the  great  blue-grass  region,  one  of  the 
most  fertile  agricultural  areas  in  the  world.  Chemis- 
try, however,  revealed  the  fact  that  this  soil  was  poor 
in  potash.  When  this  cheap  fertilizer  is  applied  to  the 
land  we  see  at  once  the  striking  effects  which  the  sim- 
ple application  of  well-known  scientific  truths  pro- 


344          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

duces.  The  year  1889  was  one  in  which  the  climatic 
conditions  were  well  suited  to  the  production  of  Indian 
corn.  In  that  year  the  yield  on  the  Kentucky  experi- 
ment station,  on  land  to  which  no  fertilizer  was  applied, 
was  31  bushels  per  acre.  The  yield  on  a  portion  of 
the  same  field  which  received  muriate  of  potash  at  the 
rate  of  160  pounds,  and  nitrate  of  soda  at  the  rate  of 
160  pounds  per  acre,  was  87  bushels.  Thus,  by  the 
application  of  320  pounds  of  fertilizing  material  per 
acre,  half  of  which  was  obtained  at  a  very  low  price,  the 
yield  of  Indian  corn  was  more  than  doubled.  This 
illustration,  it  is  true,  represents  an  extreme  case,  that 
is,  one  in  which  the  climatic  conditions  were  especially 
favorable.1  But  one  of  the  great  triumphs  of  scientific 
agriculture  in  the  future  will  be  found  in  the  more 
practical  control  of  climatic  conditions  than  is  at  pres- 
ent secured.  We  will  be  able,  on  the  one  hand,  to  con- 
serve the  natural  moisture  so  that  the  effects  of  dry  sea- 
sons in  diminishing  a  crop  will  be  reduced  to  the  mini- 
mum. On  the  other  hand,  we  will  be  able  to  so  control 
large  excesses  of  precipitation  that  the  sinister  effects 
of  an  excessively  wet  season  will  likewise  be  reduced 
to  a  minimum. 

In  respect  of  temperature,  there  is  little  reason  to 
fear,  inasmuch  as  the  average  mean  temperature  of  the 
growing  season  does  not  vary  greatly  in  any  period  of 
years. 

THESE   IS    MOKE    THAN   GBAIN   IN   INDIAN   COBN. 

We  have  spoken  only  of  the  grain  of  Indian  corn, 
and  in  this  is  not  included  more  than  half  of  the  true 

i  In  recent  years  a  few  boys  in  corn  clubs  of  the  country  have 
attained  officially  certified  yields  of  over  200  bushels  of  Indian 
Corn  per  acre. 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  345 

value  of  this  marvelous  plant,  the  discovery  of  which 
was  almost  as  important  as  that  of  the  American  con- 
tinent itself. 

Profligate  nature  stores  in  the  stalks  of  the  Indian 
corn  a  greater  quantity  of  food  than  she  deposits  in  the 
grain.  Only  lately  have  the  experiment  stations  shown 
the  high  food  value  of  the  dry  stalks,  millions  of  tons 
of  which  are  annually  burned  on  the  vast  plains  of  our 
siaize  belt  The  value  of  the  dry  stalks  alone  for  cat- 
tle food  is  nearly  as  great  as  that  .of  the  ear.  But  in  the 
fresh  stalk  are  found  large  quantities  of  sugar,  one  of 
the  best  fattening  foods  in  the  world. 

At  the  time  the  grains  of  the  ear  are  fully  formed  and 
firm,  but  before  they  are  dry,  the  stalk  contains  its 
maximum  amount  of  sugar,  fully  12  per  cent  of  its 
weight.  For  every  average  acre  in  maize,  3000 
pounds  of  sugar  are  produced.  In  the  natural  drying 
of  the  stalk,  in  autumn,  this  sugar  ferments  and  is  dis- 
tilled into  the  air,  Nature's  proof  spirits,  both  of  the 
sunshine  and  moonshine  stills,  although  ungaged  and 
unstamped  by  any  collector  of  inland  revenue.  No 
wonder  our  friends  in  Iowa  are  such  strict  Prohibi- 
tionists, since  they  may,  on  any  warm  day  in  October 
after  a  heavy  frost,  drink  into  their  lungs  in  Nature's 
big  saloon  rich  draughts  of  this  prairie  dew. 

Mixed  with  a  small  ration  of  cotton  seed  or  flax  seed 
cake,  or  with  beans  or  peas,  this  waste  sugar  of  the 
maize  fields  would  fatten  every  steer,  pig  and  lamb  in 
the  country,  and  there  would  be  enough  left  over  to 
feed  all  the  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  of  the  whole  world. 
With  all  this  wealth  of  material  available,  what  need 
have  we  to  tremble  before  the  bogy  men  of  Malthus  and 
his  disciples. 


348  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

IMPROVEMENT   IN    QUAXJTY. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  possibilities  of  increasing  the 
yield  of  our  staple  crops  and  consequently  of  increas- 
ing, almost  indefinitely,  the  sources  of  human  food. 
There  is  another  important  line  of  progress  along  which 
scientific  agriculture  will  help  in  this  work.  I  refer 
to  the  methods  by  means  of  which  the  character  of  a 
crop  or  of  an  animal  may  be  changed  by  scientific  se- 
lection. 

A  hundred  years  ago  the  ordinary  garden  beet  con- 
tained only  from  3  to  5  per  cent,  of  sugar.  To-day  the 
sugar  beet,  which  has  been  developed  from  this  primi- 
tive form,  contains  15  per  cent,  of  sugar.  In  seven 
years  of  scientific  agriculture,  the  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture raised  the  average  content  of  sugar  in  sorghum 
from  9  to  14  per  cent.  Practically  nothing  has  been 
done  along  this  line  with  other  standard  crops,  but  it  is 
perfectly  certain  that  the  character  of  any  crop  can  be 
changed,  almost  at  will,  in  accordance  with  the  demands 
which  may  be  made  upon  it.  The  protein  content  of 
wheat  is  now  12  per  cent.  It  is  safe  to  predict  that  a 
few  years  of  careful  scientific  selection  would  increase 
this  content  to  15  per  cent. 

There  is  no  time  here  to  even  mention  the  details  of 
the  work  by  .means  of  which  this  desirable  result  can 
be  accomplished.  Protein  matter  is  by  far  the  most 
costly,  pound  for  pound,  of  human  food,  with  the  possi- 
ble exception  of  oils  and  fats.  There  is  such  an  il- 
limitable field  of  progress  before  us  in  the  production 
of  carbohydrates  for  foods  that  we  look  with  interest 
upon  any  methods  which  may  be  devised  for  increasing 
the  content  of  protein  matter  in  such  standard  crops  as 
our  cereals.  In  other  words,  we  may  be  able  to  ac- 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  347 

complish  with  all  of  our  standard  vegetable  crops  what 
has  already  been  accomplished  in  the  development  of 
a  dairy  cow  or  a  race  horse.  Thus  not  only  do  we  see 
the  prospect  of  increasing  crops  for  a  given  area,  but 
also  of  adapting  the  character  of  these  crops  more  par- 
ticularly for  the  purposes  to  which  they  are  to  be  de- 
voted. 

ECONOMY   IN   STOCK   FEEDING. 

In  the  methods  of  using  foods  also  great  progress 
has  been  made  and  greater  still  is  to  be  expected.  It  is 
possible,  with  the  information  which  we  now  possess, 
to  put  a  pig  of  a  given  weight  on  the  market  at  only 
about  two-thirds  of  the  expense  that  formerly  attended 
this  process.  By  a  careful  study  of  the  character  of 
the  food,  it  is  possible  to  balance  the  rations  in  such 
a  way  that  each  type  of  food  exercises  its  maximum 
nutritive  properties.  This  has  already  been  accom- 
plished, to  a  large  extent,  in  the  farmyard  and  it  is 
possible  to  apply  similar  principles  also  in  the  dining- 
room.  Just  as  a  chain  is  as  weak  as  its  weakest  link, 
so  a  food  is  as  poor  as  its  poorest  typical  element.  In 
the  proper  balancing  of  the  rations,  and  in  the  appro- 
priate mechanical  preparation  and  in  the  cooking  of 
the  food  large  economies  can  be  effected  and  the  progress 
and  welfare  of  the  race  promoted. 

According  to  our  present  system  of  grazing  and  feed- 
ing, from  two  to  three  acres  of  land  are  required  for  the 
sustenance  of  a  dairy  cow,  while  in  the  grazing  or  range 
section  of  the  West  the  area  is  much  larger.  Last  sum- 
mer, I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a  method  of  green 
feeding  practised  by  the  Minnesota  experiment  sta- 
tion, in  which  it  was  demonstrated  that  a  cow  or  a  sheep 
could  be  kept  on  practically  one-fourth  of  the  area  above 


348  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

described.  It  was  remarkable  to  see  in  evidence  be- 
fore us  the  animal  living  and  flourishing  on  an  area 
which  was  so  small  as  to  seem  almost  impossible.  Yet 
this  simple  experiment  has  demonstrated  what  can  be 
done  in  a  scientific  way  in  increasing  the  number  of 
food  animals  which  can  be  sustained  on  a  given  area  of 
land.  Having  shown  how  our  product  of  the  cereals 
may  be  easily  doubled  or  increased  threefold  on  a  given 
area  of  land,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  it  has  also 
been  demonstrated  by  scientific  agriculture  how  the 
number  of  food  animals  sustained  on  a  given  area  can 
also  be  increased  two-  or  threefold.  Thus  it  is  not 
only  bread  which  we  are  to  furnish,  but  also  the  meat, 
which  will  be  forthcoming  in  proper  quantities. 

PROGRESS    NOT    CONFINED    TO    ARABLE    SOILS. 

Of  the  vast  area  of  our  arid  regions  we  need  not 
wholly  despair.  According  to  conservative  and  com- 
petent authorities,  it  is  estimated  that  with  the  visible 
supply  of  water  at  least  5  per  cent,  of  this  region  may 
be  subjected  to  irrigation.  This  area  alone  would  add 
immense  stores  to  our  granaries.  On  irrigated  lands  it 
already  pays  to  practise  intensive  agriculture.  Exten- 
sive agriculture  will  not  pay  on  land  which  it  has  cost 
$50  or  more  per  acre  to  reclaim  and  prepare  for  the 
seed.  At  the  present  time  one  acre  of  irrigated  land 
means  as  much  as  three  of  ordinary  land  in  furnishing 
agricultural  products. 

The  coming  triumphs  in  agricultural  science  will 
not  be  confined  to  our  present  arable  soils.  The  arid 
wilderness  is  to  be  conquered,  and  even  the  snows  be 
robbed  of  their  terror.  When  the  surface  water  has 
been  used  up  the  inexhaustible  subterranean  streams 
still  remain.  The  very  blizzards  that  sweep  down  upon 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  349 

us  from  the  far  Northwest  will  be  harnessed  and  made, 
by  the  medium  of  electricity,  to  furnish  us  with  heat 
and  light. 

The  superficial  changes  which  man  will  make  in  the 
cold  and  arid  regions  cannot  fail  to  produce  a  profound 
impression  on  the  rainfall.  Forests  will  rise  to  check 
the  fury  of  the  northwest  winds,  and  to  change  the 
physical  condition  of  the  soil  and  subsoil.  The  tamed 
elements  of  nature  will  be  pressed  into  service,  and  in 
the  end,  help  along  with  the  work  which  they  at  first 
so  strenuously  opposed.  We  may  not  be  able  to  bring 
back  those  tropic  breezes  which  lured  the  megatherium 
and  the  pterodactyl  to  linger  about  the  boreal  regions  in 
those  times : 

"  When  the  sea  rolled  its  fathomless  billows 
Across  the  broad  plains  of  Nebraska, 
When  around  the  North  Pole  grew  bananas  and  willows, 
And  mastodons  fought  with  the  fierce  armadillos 
For  the  pineapples  grown  in  Alaska : " 

But  as  in  the  future  we  shall  laugh  at  the  lack  of 
moisture,  so  shall  we  mock  the  snow  and  the  blizzard. 

It  requires  only  a  simple  calculation  by  an  electrical 
engineer  to  show  that  if  all  the  energy  of  the  winter's 
northwest  winds  were  converted  into  heat  by  means  of 
windmills  and  dynamos,  the  North  Dakota  farmer  in 
January  might  be  seen  mopping  his  brow  vigorously, 
and  fanning  himself  as  he  trimmed  his  orange  trees. 

We  have  also  practically  inexhaustible  sources  of 
heat  close  beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  frost 
never  penetrates  more  than  a  few  feet  below  the  sur- 
face. At  a  comparatively  small  depth  a  summer  tem- 
perature is  reached.  It  is  entirely  probable  that  man 
may  draw  upon  the  interior  of  the  earth  for  supplies 


350  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

of  heat  for  wanning  his  habitation  and  growing  his 
green  vegetables  under  cover  in  winter. 

EXTENDING   THE   BOUNDS   OF   TILLAGE. 

There  are  good  reasons,  therefore,  for  believing  that 
both  in  respect  of  moisture  and  temperature,  the  agri- 
cultural science  of  the  future  may  open  up  large  areas 
to  tillage  that  are  now  abandoned  to  desolation  and  to 
frost.  Even  in  Alaska  we  read  accounts  of  gardens 
and  fields  of  cereals  and  of  meadows  for  grazing  cat- 
tle. In  the  recovery  and  utilization  of  waste  products 
the  farmer  of  the  future  has  spread  before  him  a  field 
of  richest  promise.  It  has  been  shown  that  with  proper 
culture  and  feeding  the  yields  of  our  fields  may  be  in- 
creased threefold.  Scientific  feeding  of  animals  is  yet 
a  new  science,  but  it  has  already  shown  how  to  put  beef 
and  pork  in  the  market  at  less  than  two-thirds  of  the 
cost  of  50  years  ago.  The  science  of  man  feeding  is 
only  in  its  primer.  The  science  of  field  feeding  is 
still  learning  its  alphabet. 

From  the  streets  and  sewers  of  cities,  from  the  deserts 
of  Chili  and  Arizona,  from  the  islands  of  the  Pacific 
and  from  the  oceans  and  seas  the  future  farmer  will 
draw  the  food  to  feed  his  fields. 

In  the  geologic  ages  of  the  distant  past,  before  the 
dawn  even  of  primitive  agriculture,  provident  nature 
garnered  the  migratory  elements  of  plant  food  in  stores 
whose  extent  and  richness  are  yet  but  little  known.  In 
the  case  of  potash,  only  one  locality  in  the  whole  world 
has  been  exploited,  and  that  only  partially.  But  even 
in  the  deposits  of  Stassfurt  and  vicinity  are  found 
stores  of  potash  which  our  successors  at  the  end  of  a 
thousand  years  may  freely  draw  on.  The  conditions 
which  determine  the  deposits  of  potash  in  that  locality 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  851 

are  not  unique,  and  there  is  every  reason  for  believing 
that  others  equally  extensive  will  be  discovered.  The 
decomposing  granites  and  other  potash-bearing  rocks 
are  affording  over  wide  areas  additional  stores  of  this 
food,  so  eagerly  eaten  by  plants,  and  so  necessary  to 
the  formation  of  carbohydrates,  one  of  the  principal 
foods  of  animals. 

The  stores  of  nitrate  of  soda  on  the  Pacific  coast  of 
South  America  show  no  signs  of  exhaustion.  In  the 
arid  basins  of  southern  California  and  Arizona  are 
found  large  deposits  of  soils  containing  from  5  to  20 
per  cent,  of  nitrates.  These  deposits  have  been  formed 
in  past  ages  of  the  earth  from  the  decay  of  marine  veg- 
etation and  animal  remains.  Deposits  of  guano  are 
formed  chiefly  from  the  debris  of  birds,  mostly  of  ma- 
rine predatory  habits.  In  the  little  frequented  islands 
of  the  Hawaiian  group  these  deposits  are  now  forming, 
as  is  shown  in  photographs  I  have  lately  seen,  in  which 
large  areas  are  completely  covered  with  birds  and  their 
eggs. 

NOTHING   IS    HOPELESSLY   LOST. 

The  bones  of  marine  and  terrestrial  animals,  man  in- 
cluded, are  never  wholly  lost  to  agriculture.  In  this 
country  alone  are  found  deposits  of  phosphates  in  South 
Carolina,  Florida,  Pennsylvania  and  Tennessee,  large 
enough  to  feed  our  crops  for  many  millenniums.  Thus 
the  three  most  essential  plant  foods,  namely,  phosphoric 
acid,  potash  and  nitrogen,  are  stored  on  every  hand  in 
forms  not  obnoxious  to  decay,  and  in  places  accessible 
to  man. 

There  is  no  death,  only  atomic  changing, 
When  life  from  one  form  to  another  passes, 
And  new  life  comes  but  from  the  rearranging 
Of  the  old  parts  in  new  atomic  masses. 


352  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

The  sea,  the  miser  of  the  vanished  ages, 
Gives  up  its  cherished  dead  to  weed  and  coral, 
And  from  the  tombs  of  heroes  and  of  sages 
Spring  fields  of  corn  and  fragrant  beauties  floral 

The  dust  of  Caesar,  through  the  centuries  sifting, 
Will  reach  new  life,  and  feel  the  thrill  of  being  j 
No  grave  so  deep,  the  storied  shaft  uplifting, 
As  darkened  eye  to  keep  again  from  seeing. 

The  very  bread,  which  you  to-day  are  eating, 

Has  passed  from  earliest  aeons  through  life's  phases, 

The  circle  of  eternal  life  completing, 

Secure,  untouched,  through  all  its  mystic  mazes. 

The  sea  is  the  final  receptacle  of  the  plant  food, 
which  seems  to  be  hopelessly  lost.  The  rain  dissolves 
and  carries  away  the  elements  which  escape  absorption 
by  the  plant.  The  streams  and  rivers  finally  carry 
these  precious  stores  into  the  ocean,  where  they,  to  the 
thoughtless  observer,  are  forever  hidden.  But  not  so. 
The  sea  is  the  great  conserver  and  sorter.  Nothing 
which  enters  these  apparently  unfathomable  depths  es- 
capes attention.  Mineral  substances  of  like  nature  are 
brought  together  and  deposited  in  layers  of  various 
thicknesses,  which  subsequent  changes  of  level  in  the 
earth's  crust  render  available.  Sea  weeds  and  algss 
seize  on  the  soluble  portions  of  this  waste  of  matter 
and  fix  them  in  their  tissues.  Afterwards  this  vege- 
table matter  serves  for  the  nourishment  of  marine  ani- 
mal life,  or  is  cast  upon  the  shore,  and  becomes  directly 
useful  to  man  for  the  fertilizing  principles  it  contains. 
Marine  animal  life  feeds  on  other  stores  of  waste  mat- 
ter, and  converts  them  into  forms  suitable  for  food  for 
man  and  for  fertilizing  purposes.  Vast  stores  of  oil, 
human  food,  nitrogenous  and  phosphatic  fertilizers  are 
thus  rescued  annually  from  the  depths  of  the  sea. 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  353 

NOT   MTTCH   PROMISE    FROM    SYNTHETIC   FOODS. 

I  have  not  considered  at  all  in  this  relation  the  possi- 
bility of  producing  foods  and  other  agricultural  prod- 
ucts by  direct  synthesis  in  chemical  laboratories.  We 
must  realize  the  fact  that  chemistry  has  made  great  ad- 
vances in  this  direction  within  the  last  few  years.  The 
chasm  between  the  organic  and  the  inorganic  has  been 
completely  bridged  over,  and  it  is  possible  now  for  the 
chemist  to  commence  with  inorganic  materials  and  to 
proceed  step  by  step  until  he  is  able  to  form  from  them 
true  organic  compounds.  In  this  way  alcohols,  sugars 
and  glycerids  have  already  been  produced,  and  the 
chemist  of  to-day  is  attacking  vigorously  the  problem  of 
building  up  compounds  as  complicated  as  the  proteins. 
I  am  not  a  believer,  however,  in  the  possibility  of  chem- 
istry ever  displacing  agriculture  and  forming  from  the 
inorganic  elements  all  the  food  necessary  for  man  and 
beast  Lately,  in  an  address  before  the  American 
Chemical  Society,  in  Boylston  Hall  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, I  reviewed  this  whole  subject,  and  it  is  not  nec- 
essary now  to  do  more  than  refer  to  it  In  that  address 
I  said: 

"  According  to  Berthelot,  the  fields  which  are  now 
defaced  by  agriculture  will  be  beautified  by  regaining 
their  natural  covering  and  the  earth  will  be  one  vast 
park  of  pleasure  and  the  chemist  the  great  conservator 
of  the  human  race. 

"  In  all  the  instances  brought  forth  there  is  not  the 
slightest  approach  to  anything  to  justify  the  prophecy 
of  a  period  of  artificial  food.  The  few  cases  of  synthe- 
sis in  which  the  products  approach  the  composition  of 
anything  digestible  present  such  insurmountable  diffi- 
culties in  expense  and  supervision  as  to  render  any 


354  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

expectation  of  reaching  economic  results  utterly  futile. 
In  the  great  majority  of  cases,  as  has  been  seen,  the 
process  of  synthesis  is  conducted  on  materials  already 
organized  by  living  cells.  The  enormous  cost  of  build- 
ing up  any  kind  of  a  commercial,  synthetic  organic 
body  directly  from  the  elements  is  such  as  to  render  it, 
in  my  opinion,  utterly  improbable  of  successful  achieve- 
ment 

"  Even  if  food  products  can  be  formed  in  the  crucible 
there  is  no  reason  whatever  for  supposing  that  they  can 
ever  play  any  role  in  an  economic  sense.  The  untold 
billions  of  laboratories  which  nature  builds  are  in- 
finitely cheaper  in  construction  and  operation  than 
those  filled  with  platinum  and  porcelain.  The  sun  ig- 
nites the  crucibles  of  nature  at  an  expense  far  less  than 
attends  the  use  of  the  city  gas  works.  The  director  of 
Nature's  laboratory  depends  on  no  endowment  nor  leg- 
islation for  his  salary  and  his  bills  for  supplies  are 
not  disallowed  by  any  board  of  auditors  on  the  score  of 
economy.  Night  and  day  his  patient,  faithful  assist- 
ants work  without  thirst  for  fame,  without  hope  of  re- 
ward. They  fight  not  for  priority  of  discovery,  and 
their  anonymous  papers  are  printed  in  rich  profusion 
in  the  great  Berichte  of  the  universe.  The  chemistry 
of  the  chlorophyl  cell  is  far  more  wonderful  than 
any  of  the  achievements  of  Lavoisier,  Berzelius,  or 
Fischer. 

"  It  would  doubtless  be  a  solace  to  the  weary  toiler 
in  the  sun  to  look  forward  to  a  time  when  he  might  lie 
in  the  shade  while  proteins  were  pricking  up  their  ears 
in  the  condenser  and  fats  frying  in  the  scientific  pan. 
But  in  the  days  of  the  far  future,  while  Berthelot  will 
still  be  honored,  and  Fischer  praised,  the  farmer  will 
be  found  following  in  the  furrow,  fields  of  waving  grain 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  355 

will  brighten  the  landscape,  and  herds  of  kine  graze 
upon  the  hills." 

FRUITS   OF   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION1. 

The  agricultural  colleges  and  experiment  stations 
point  out  the  way  and  demonstrate  the  practical  meth- 
ods to  be  pursued  in  converting  extensive  into  intensive 
agriculture.  The  work  of  these  great  factors  in  po- 
litical economy  is  still  in  its  infancy.  The  era  of  ac- 
complishment is  hardly  inaugurated.  We  are  now  only 
in  the  midst  of  preparation  for  the  advance  which  is  to 
come.  To  teach  the  art  of  conserving  and  utilizing  to 
the  best  possible  effect  all  the  sources  of  supply  —  that 
is  the  glorious  future  of  agricultural  education  and  ex- 
periment. The  progress  of  humanity  is  not  a  breeder 
of  poverty,  but  of  wealth.  For  every  additional  mouth 
are  provided  two  additional  hands.  The  human  race 
is  not  a  Polyphemus,  blinded  by  the  wandering  Ulysses 
of  education,  and  doomed  to  a  hopeless  struggle  in  the 
dark.  Clear  of  vision,  firm  of  purpose,  it  pushes  on 
to  its  final  destiny.  Depending  wholly  on  agriculture 
for  subsistence,  it  looks  to  the  field  for  that  future  sup- 
port which  will  bear  it  on  in  greater  achievements.  The 
more  dense  the  population,  the  greater  the  happiness, 
the  greater  the  progress  of  the  race.  It  is  not  work  in 
the  field  that  has  caused  our  agricultural  population  to 
contribute  so  large  a  percentage  to  the  inmates  of  our 
insane  asylums;  it  is  isolation.  Scientific  agriculture 
will  bring  men  closer  together.  It  will  make  the  vil- 
lage, and  not  the  isolated  farm  house,  the  center  of  resi- 
dence. It  will  turn  Ohio  into  a  Belgium,  with  20,000,- 
000  people  within  her  borders,  not  slaves  to  ignorant 
labor,  but  beneficiaries  of  enlightened  agriculture, 
which  will  bring  plenty  to  the  granary,  ease  to  the 


356          THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

evening  of  labor,  and  refinement  to  the  parlors  of  the 
poor.  It  will  show  the  absurdity  of  the  Malthusian 
myth,  and  the  speciousness  of  the  Georgian  pessimism. 
Our  people  are  not  going  to  starve.  The  mission  of 
the  new  building  this  day  dedicated  to  agriculture  will 
not  be  in  vain. 

FORGET   NOT    THE   HUMBLE   BEGINNING. 

On  the  threshold  of  this  new  birth  of  progress  and 
of  possibility  it  is  meet  that  we  should  not  forget  the 
humble  beginnings  of  things.  Monuments  and  memo- 
rials are  rising  to  Liebig,  to  Berthelot,  to  Gilbert,  to 
Morrill  and  to  Hatch.  We  mention  with  gratitude  the 
names  of  Storer,  of  Johnson,  of  C  aid  well  and  of  Hil- 
gard,  and  we  gladly  join  in  every  acclaim  of  the  services 
which  they  and  many  others  have  rendered  to  the  cause 
of  agriculture.  But  there  is  still  one  to  whom  we  owe 
a  debt,  and  whose  name  is  never  heard,  a  true  and  typi- 
cal American,  whose  majestic  figure  we  may  never  see 
in  bronze  and  marble.  Some  300  years  ago  he  stood 
on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  where  the  eager 
east  wind,  as  now,  often  made  life  a  burden.  The 
sturdy  white  men,  lately  transplanted  from  over  the 
sea,  were  not  looked  on  with  much  favor  by  many  of 
his  brethren.  His  philanthropy,  however,  went  out  to 
them,  and  it  was  he  who,  in  those  early  days,  taught 
our  ancestors  the  first  principles  of  scientific  agricul- 
ture. He  laid  the  foundations  of  that  system  of  ex- 
periment which  is  the  basis  on  which  our  agricultural 
colleges  and  experiment-  stations  of  to-day  stand.  Lis- 
ten to  the  simple  record  of  his  work : 


A    DE8KKT    WHICH    M1CIIT    UK    IKKKiATED 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  SQUANTO  357 

MEAGER   MENTION   OF   SQTTANTO. 

The  honor  of  teaching  the  American  colonists  the 
use  of  artificial  fertilizers  belongs,  without  doubt,  to 
an  Indian  named  Squanto.  In  Governor  Bradford's 
"  History  of  Plimouth  Plantation  "  is  given  an  account 
of  the  early  agricultural  experiences  of  the  Plymouth 
colonists.  In  April,  1621,  at  the  close  of  the  first  long 
dreary  winter  "  they  (as  many  as  were  able)  began  to 
plant  their  come,  in  which  service  Squanto  (an  In- 
dian) stood  them  in  great  stead,  showing  them  both  ye 
manner  how  to  set  it,  and  after  how  to  dress  and  tend 
it  Also  he  tould  them,  axcepte  they  got  fish  and  set 
with  it  (in  these  old  grounds)  it  would  come  to  noth- 
ing; and  he  showed  them  yt  in  ye  middle  of  Aprill, 
they  should  have  store  enough  come  up  ye  brooke  by 
which  they  begane  to  build  and  taught  them  how  to 
take  it." 

Another  account  mentioned  by  Goode  of  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Indians  in  this  respect  may  be  found  in 
George  Mourt's  "  Relation  or  Journal  of  the  Beginning 
and  Proceedings  of  the  English  Plantation  settled  at 
Plimouth  in  New  England,  by  certain  English  Adven- 
turers, both  merchants  and  others,  London,  1622." 
"  We  set  the  last  spring  some  twenty  acres  of  Indian 
corn,  and  sowed  some  six  acres  of  barley  and  pease, 
and,  according  to  the  manner  of  the  Indians,  we 
manured  our  ground  with  herrings,  or  rather  shads, 
which  we  have  in  great  abundance  and  take  with  great 
ease  at  our  doors.  Our  corn  did  prove  well,  and  God 
be  praised,  we  had  a  good  increase  of  Indian  corn,  and 
our  barley  indifferent  good." 

Thomas  Morton,  in  his  "  New  England  Canaan," 
London,  1632,  wrote  of  Virginia:  "There  is  a  fish 


358  THE  LURE  OF  THE  LAND 

(by  some  called  shadds,  by  some,  allizes)  that  at  the 
spring  of  the  yeare  passe  up  the  rivers  to  spawn  in  the 
pond,  and  are  taken  in  such  multitudes  in  every  river 
that  hath  a  pond  at  the  end  that  the  inhabitants  doung 
their  ground  with  them.  You  may  see  in  one  town- 
ship a  hundred  acres  together,  set  with  these  fish,  every 
acre  taking  1000  of  them,  and  an  acre  thus  dressed  will 
produce  and  yield  so  much  corn  as  three  acres  without 
fish;  and  (least  any  Virginea  man  would  infere  here- 
upon that  the  ground  of  'New  England  was  barren,  be- 
cause they  use  more  fish  in  setting  their  corne,  I  de- 
sire them  to  be  remembered,  the  cause  is  plaine  in  Vir- 
ginea) they  have  it  not  to  sett  But  this  practice  is 
only  for  the  Indian  maize  (which  must  be  set  by  hand), 
not  for  English  grain;  and  this  is,  therefore,  a  com- 
modity there." 

We  look  back  to-day,  therefore,  three  centuries  to  the 
very  beginnings  of  American  agriculture.  To  that 
dusky  bronze  figure,  proud  in  the  simplicity  of  his  for- 
tune, let  us  to-day  turn  our  eyes.  For  that  service 
which  he  rendered  the  struggling  pilgrim,  and  for  that 
example  of  scientific  agriculture  let  us  to-day  bring  this 
tardy  tribute  to  Squanto. 


THE   EHD 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abe    Martin,    147 

Aberdeen   Angus,   265 

Adams,  money  aid  to  agricul- 
tural experiments,  310 

Agricultural  colleges  and  ex- 
periment stations,  first 
meeting,  274 

Agricultural  colleges,  money 
aid,  309 

Agricultural    education,    fruits 

of,  355 

promotion,   310 
total  grants,  311 

Agricultural  experiment  sta- 
tions, munificent  help, 
321 

number  of  professors,  di- 
rectors and  employees, 
321,  322 

Agricultural   extension,   future 

amount  of  grants,  314 
grants,  312 

Agricultural  implements,  ex- 
posure, 65 

Agricultural  trains,  16 

Agricultural   wastes,    167 

Agriculture,      a      fundamental 

profession,  89 
a  learned  profession,   11 

Alaska,  former  climate  of,  349 

Alkali,   formation,    195 
treatment,  196 

Ambitions  of  the  farm  boy, 
148 


American    agriculture    on    the 

downward  path,  322 
Amortization,  130,  131 
Apples,  biggest  on  top  of  the 

barrel,  87 
Arable       land,       classification, 

327,  328,  329 

Arid  region,  reclamation,  348 
Army,     supplies     to     officers' 

families,   156 
Average  rainfall,  249 

B 
Baby    beef,    cost    of    growing, 

257 

Back  to  the  farm,  145 
Backbone,  educating,  278 
Bacteria,  rOle  in  soil  building, 

184 
Bankruptcy,      nature      avoids, 

209 
Beef  cattle,  area  of  production, 

258 

cost  of  growing,  256 
example  of  selling,  95 
method  of  selling,  94 
price  disturbed,  260 
Beef  growing,  little  profit,  253 
Beef      production,      abnormal, 

254 

Belgium,    density    of    popula- 
tion, 338 

Bills,  paid  by  check,  120 
Biology,  contributions  to  agri- 
culture,  291 
Book  farming,  30 


361 


362 


INDEX 


Bookkeeping  on  the  farm,  116 

Boomers  and  Boomees,  18 

Born-on-the-farm,  28 

Borrowed     money,     restriction 
on  use,  142,  143 

Botany,   contributions  to  agri- 
culture, 297 

Brains,   necessary  in  farming, 
34 

Buchanan,  James,  171 

Buchanan,  vetoes  Land  Grant 
Bill,   308 

Bull  calf,  sell  or  keep,  255 

Bureau  of  soils,  204 
fertility,  229 
various  theories,  232 

Business  methods,  114 

Butter,  quantity,  272 

selling  by  parcel  post,  101 


Cattle,  losses,  169 
Cereals,  yield,  331 
Cheap  steel,  great  civilizer, 

276 
Checkbook   useful   for  keeping 

accounts,  117 
Chemistry,      contributions      to 

agriculture,   282 
Children,  nourishment  of  farm, 

59 

Cities,  rivalry,  151 
City  man — when  should  he  go 

to  the  country?  4 
Civic  center,  83 
Classification,  social,  87 
Clover,    early    recognition    of, 

235 

Commercialism,  spirit  of,  155 
Commission    on    farm    credits, 

126,  127,  128 
conclusions,  139,  140,  141 
Conservation     of     plant     food, 

351 
Contract,  regard  for,  66 


Cooperative  borrowing,  122 
Corn,  increased  yield,  343 
Country  life,   hard   conditions, 

5 
Country,  more  attractive  than 

the  city,  91 
Cradle,       revolutionized       the 

wheat  industry,  33 
Cream,  selling  by  parcel  post, 

101 
Crops,  improvement  in  quality, 

346 
variety,  205 

D 

Dairy,  better  than  the  orchard, 

39 

Dairy  cow,  breeds,  35 
infected,  37 
number,  270,  271,  336 
per  cent,  tuberculosis,  273 
price,  272 
Dairy,   the  hope  of  the  small 

farmer,   35 
Dairying,  success,  40 
Darius  Green,  163 
Death  rates,  in  cities  and  rural 

districts,  55 
Debt,  beneficial?  121 
Department      of      Agriculture, 

growth,  313 
Department  officials,  interested 

in  Everglades,  20 
Diet,     importance    of    orchard 

products,   49 

Diet  in  the  farmer's  home,  57 
Diseases,  peculiar  to  farm  life, 

54 

Doctor,  a  country,  59 
Drunkenness,  a  curse  to  farm 

labor,  69 

Dry  farming,  237 
difficulties,  240 
first  official  experiment,  238 
Dry  farming  in  the  East,  241 


INDEX 


E 

Early  experience,  danger  of,  30 
Earth,  genesis  of  surface,  173 
Earth  worms,  role  in  soil 

building,  183 
Education,  better  for  fanner's 

children,  146 
Electricity,    amount    available, 

161 

farm  use  in  America,  166 
use    in    England    and    Aus- 
tralia, 164,  165 
uses  on  the  farm,  163 
Employer,  duty  of,  66 
Endowment,     danger     of     too 

great,  312,  313 
Entomology,    contributions    to 

agriculture,  301 
Erosion,    factors    determining, 

221 

Everglades,   Florida,   19 
Expensive  farming,  29 


Factories,   move   to   the   coun- 
try, 150 

Falling  water  level,  241 
Farm,  a  continued  joy,  32 
Fdrm   animals,    comparison   of 

numbers,  270 

Farm  animals,  number,  269 
Farm     animals,     number     and 

value,  334,  335 
value,  337 

Farm    credits,   proposed   legis- 
lation,  126 
Farm   Finance,   119 
Farm,  health  on  the,  53 
Farm  labor,  poorly  paid,  81 
Farm  laborer,  few  recreations, 

77 

Farm  life,  attractive,  149 
conditions,  3 
social  opportunities,  150 


Farm     losses,     compensation, 

171 

insurance,  172 

Farm  machinery,  effect  of,  146 
Farm  property,  value,  138 
Farmer,   an  American  citizen, 

88 

chances  of  the  old  time,  31 
exploited  politically,  86 
exposure  of,  56 
helpless  in  the  market,  93 
Farmer,  long  life  in  the  future, 

58 
neglect    and    indifference    in 

regard  to  soils,  217 
of  the  future,  90 
place  in  the  social  scale,  86 
Farmer    Johnson,     impressions 

of  the  "Institoot,"  15 
Farmer's    accounts,    not    kept, 

115 
Farmer's    boy,    appeal    to    the 

city,  4 

Farmers'  institutes,  14 
Farmer's  markets,  92 
Farmer's  profits,  often  illusory, 

115 
Farmer's     sons,     keeping     at 

home,  6 

Farmers'  Union,  89 
Farming  a  business,  11 
Farming  at  a  plump  age,  33 
Farming,     making     profitable, 

152 

visions  of  the  future,  84 
Feeding,  economical,  36 
"Feel  in  the  air,"  31 
Ferment,  nitrifying,  185 
Fertility,  what  is  it?  226 
Fertilizers,  sources  of,  350 
Field,  not  fed  from  its  own  re- 
sources, 33 

Fish   as   fertilizer,   357 
Florida,   vegetable  soils,    199 
Food  products,  animal,  271 


364 


IKDEX 


Forest  products,  333 
Fruit,    danger    of    overproduc- 
tion, 51 

G 

Genesis  of  the  soil,  173 

Glacial  drift,  189 

Gold  mine,  the  old  story,  22 


Hall,  Mr.  Alfred  Daniel,  229 
Hall,    theories    of    bureau    of 

soils,  230 

Hatch,   money  aid  to   agricul- 
tural experiments,  309 
Health  on  the  farm,  53 
Health,  the  orchard  a  help,  48 
Heine,  Heinrich,  spiritus  fam- 

iliaris,  278 
Hen  fever,  18 
Heredity,  influence,  292 
Hilgard,  Professor  E.  W.,  182 
Hog  cholera,  168 

losses,  169 
Home,  founded  upon  labor,  10 

making    the    farmer's    home 

comfortable,  45 
Hopkins,    Professor    Cyril    G., 

229 

Horse,  cost  of  keeping,  80 
Horses,  number,  336 
Humus,  200 

a  measure  of  fertility,  231 

composition,  202 

decay,  201 

importance,  228 


Improved   land   of  the   United 

States,  325,  326 
Income  tax,  effect  on   farmer, 

265,  266 

Indian  corn,  harvesting,  79 
more  than  grain,  344,  345 
yield,  330 


Industrial   education,   277 
Industries,  future,  306 
Intensive  farming,  29 
Interest,  rate  of,   124 
Intoxication,  effects  of,  70 
Irrigable  lands  of  the  United 

States,  325,  326 
Irrigable  lands,  promotion  of, 

21 


Jag,  continuing  effect  of,  71 

K 
Keeping  the  boy  on  the  farm, 

148 

King,  Professor  F.  W.,  229 
Kiser,  where  brains  are  needed, 

34 
Koch,  Dr.  Robert,  37 


Labor,  a  curse,  31 

carelessness,  63 

dignity   of,   281 

farm,  61 

fundamental,  62 

skilled  for  farm,  64 

unskilled,  63 

value  of  on  farm,  66 
Laborer,  kind  of  environment, 

68 

Laborer  not  to  blame,  67 
Land,  advancing  price,  80 
Landlord  and  laborer,  83 
Land     area     of     the     United 

States,  325 
Land  banks,   bill  to  establish, 

141,   142 
Land    grant   endowment,    total 

amount,  317,  318,  319 
Land  grant  for  education,  12 
Land  grants,  script  sale,  13 
Leading  crops,  magnitude,  330 
Leaving  the  farm,  why?  147 


INDEX 


365 


Leguminous    crops,    effect    on 

soils,  225 
Liebig,   father   of   agricultural 

chemistry,  284 
laboratory  of,  285,  286 
Life,  artificial,  6 

the  greatest  wealth,  60 
Lime,   benefits,   233 

effect  on  soils,  216 
Lincoln,  approves  Land  Grant 

Bill,  308 

Long-time  loans,  130 
Long-time  mortgage,  129 
Long-time  notes,  123 
Loring,   Honorable   George   B., 

236 
Low    wages,    retarding    effect, 

158 

M 

McGee,  Dr.  W  J,  221 
Machinery,       advantages       of 

labor-saving,  82 
Manor,  the  lord  of,  79 
Mayor     Shank,     Indianapolis, 

markets,   157 
Meat  animals,  decrease,  262 

encourage  the  growth,  267 

increasing  price,  263 

not  profitable  to  grow,  264 

shortage,  263 
Meat  diet,  diminish,  252 
Meat  supply,  data,  261 

decreasing,  252 

Meteorology,   value  to  agricul- 
ture, 286,  287,  288 
Middleman,  useful,  154 
Milk,  quantity,  272 
Merrill,  Senator  Justin  S.,  12 
Moving   pictures,   aid  to   agri- 
culture, 17 

N 

Nation-wide  prohibition,  72 
Nature's   laboratory,  354 


Nitrate  of  soda,  351 
Nitrogenous  fertilizers,  232 

O 

Orchard,    experience    in    Colo- 
rado, 23 

"knee-deep  in  June,"  48 
love  of  the  beautiful,  47 
neglect  of,  47 
recreation  and  profit,  46 
Orchards,  confined  to  restricted 

localities,  50 
disasters,  26 
price  in  Colorado,  24 
promotion  of,  21 
well  kept,   50 
yield  in  Colorado,  25 
Organic    matter,    function    in 

soils,  215 

Oxygen,  r6le  in  soil  building, 
186 


Page,  Dr.  John  R.,  236 
Parcel  post,  100 
difficulties,  104 
help    from    the    Post    Office 
Department,  105,  106,  107, 
108 

importance  of  education,  113 
minimum  packages,   113 
not    expected    successful    at 

first,  102 
packages  for,  100 
zones  and  postage,  109 
Patience,  philosophy  of,  9 
Pecan  tree,  223 
Plant  food  in  solution,  245 
Plant  food,  regained  from  the 

sea,  352 

Plants,   inorganic  foods,  227 
Pleasure,    true,    always   moral, 

302 

Police  regulations  on  the  farm, 
60 


366 


INDEX 


Ponce  de  Leon,  20 
Population,   future,   207 
Post  Office,  Washington,  facili- 
ties for  parcel  post,  103 
Potatoes,  yield,  332 
Power  on  the  farm^  160 
Price  of  beef,  comparative,  259 
Products,  ideal  for  selling,  92 
Professor  Langley,   164 
Profits,    what    per    cent,    does 

the  farmer  get?  97 
Prohibition,  69 

South  versus  North,  75 
Promoters,  wickedness  of,  7 
Public   library,   clearing  house 

for  parcel  post,  110,  111 
Public    schools,    teaching   agri- 
culture, 316 

Q 

Quack  remedy,  victim,  22 

R 

Rainfall,  distribution,  242 
Reforestation,   213 

early  experiment,  218 

effect  on  climate,  250 
Reforestation  with  fruit  bear- 
ing trees,  222 

Riley,  James  Whitcomb,  48 
Rock  decay,  175 
Rocks,  rates  of  weathering,  178 

weathering,  177 
Rural    banks,    minimum    capi- 
tal, 137 

type,  136 
Rural  credits,  125 

free  from  taxation,  132 

stability,   135 

state  aid,  137 
Rural  life,  love  of,  8 

S 

Sand,    Long   Island    preferable 
to  Florida,  27 


Sand  bed,  making  the  garden 

of,  283 

Sanitation,  importance  of,  57 
Scale,  San  Jose',  51 
Schools,  agricultural,  12 

study  of  farm  life,  7 
Science,   the   mother  of  indus- 
tries and  arts,  275 
Scientific  truth,  diffusion,  303 
Sheep,  example  of  selling,  96 

losses,  170 
Silage,    value    as    dairy    cattle 

food,  38 

Silo,  value  of,  38 
Silt,  quantities  carried  to  the 

ocean,  181 
Small  farmer,  78 
Smith,    Professor    J.    Russell, 

222 

Sobriety,  a  benefit  to  agricul- 
ture, 73 
Soil,  evolution,  174 

fertility,   226 
Soil  in  situ,  176 
Soil,  more  than  mineral,  187 

quantity    carried    in    water, 
219,  220 

restitution,  224 

weight  of,  249 
Soiling,  37 
Soils,  adobe,  197 

alkali,  194 

alluvial,   192 

chemical   composition   in   re- 
gard to  washing,  214 

classification,    177,    188 

destruction  of,  208 

fertility  according  to  bureau 
of  soils,  229 

future  production,  205 

in  situ,  190 

loss  by  drainage,  210 

loss  by  erosion,  210 

peat,  198 

reclamation,  211 


INDEX 


367 


sandstone,  191 
sandy  and  clay,  182 
vegetable,  194 
volcanic,  194 

Sorghum,  camel  among  plants, 

239 
growth  in  Kansas,  239 

Sparseness  of   population,    138 

Squanto,  a  tribute  to,  340,  358 

Squanto,  contributions  to  sci- 
entific agriculture,  356 

Starvation,  not  imminent,  342 

State  aid  to  agricultural  ex- 
tension, 315 

State  sovereignty,  difficulties, 
133,  134 

Stimulants,  common  desire  for, 
73 

Stock  feeding,  economy,  347 

Stock  on  farms,  value,  335 

Students  in  agriculture,  num- 
ber, 320 

Subsoil,  203 

Suburbanite,  not  always 
happy,  8 

Sucker,  one  born  every  min- 
ute, 19 

Suffrage,  importance  of  equal, 
75 

Swine,  number,  336 

Synthetic  foods,  353 

T 

Taylor,  John,  early  theories  of 
soil  improvement,  234 

Teachers  of  agriculture,  num- 
ber, 319,  320 

Teachers,  training  in  agricul- 
ture, 316 

Technical  training,  benefit,  279 
fundamental,  280 

Tenant  farmer,  lock  of  ambi- 
tion, 78 

Tenant  house,  model,  152 

Tillage  extension,  350 


Training   teachers    in    agricul- 

t  u  r  e ,         correspondence 

school,  317 

Transportation  facilities,  94 
Trust,    effect    of    on    farmer's 

market,  98 
Trusts,     hardship    of    control, 

259 
Truth,  love  and  reverence  for, 

305 

Tuberculosis,  37 
Typhoid,    prevalence    in    rural 

districts,  55 
Tyson,  C.  J.,  52 

U 

Uncle  Sam's  big  college,  307 
Uncle  Sam's  big  farm,  324 
Universal   hunger,   206 
Universal  training,  304 


Variation,  examples,  293,  294, 

295,  296 
importance,   293 
Variation  in  plants,  299,  300 
Vegetable     mold,     composition, 

199 
Virgin  soils,  exhaustion,  341 

W 

Wallace,  Henry,  268 

Warehouse,    neighborhood,    99 

Washed  soils,  method  of  res- 
toration, 213 

Water,  chief  disintegrating 
force,  179 

Water,  function  in  agriculture, 
244 

Water,  respective  weights  of 
water  and  crop,  246,  247, 
248 

Water,  rOle  in  soil  making,  180 

Weathor  Bureau,  transfer 
from  Signal  Service,  290 


368 


INDEX 


Weather  observations,  growth, 

289 

Weather  prognostication,  289 
Webb  Law,  76 

West  Virginia,  voting  dry,  74 
Wheat,  increased  yield,  342 
Wheat,     selling     and     buying 

flour,  98 
selling   at   the   wrong   time, 

153 

variation  in,  298 
When  the  city  comes  back  to 

the  country,  159 
Whisky,  adulterated,  70 
Wife    and    daughter,    attitude 

towards  the  country,  5 


Wife,  better  conditions  for  the 

farmer's,   45 

isolation  and  insanity  of  far- 
mer's, 43 

long  hours  of  farmer's,  42 
multiplicity  of  duties  of  far- 
mer's, 43 
no  day  of  rest  for  farmer's, 

44 
the  farmer's,  versus  the  cow, 

41 

Wilson,  Honorable  James,  313 
Windmills,  development,   162 
Winter  winds,  conversion  into 
electricity,  349 


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